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MEDWAY in the News
2003
Six charged with crimes related to crack cocaine ring
August 6, 2003
WOOSTER - Several players in a crack cocaine ring, running
through Wooster, between Columbus
and Detroit,
face criminal charges.
The charges are the culmination of an investigation that began in May
when the Medway Drug Enforcement Agency received a tip from an
informant, according to Medway Director Chuck DeFelice.
The investigation led to about a dozen drug sales to undercover agents
in Wooster,
DeFelice said.
“Suppliers of crack cocaine will set up shop at a residence or several
(locally), and they’ll sell out of there one day, and then move to a
different location, and that’s how these local people get involved,”
DeFelice said.
The people who supply the location often are drug addicted, hooked on
crack cocaine, and are paid in drugs - “a rock for the house,”
DeFelice said.
Dealers often are on the move because Medway is notorious for conducting
“a lot of no-knock search warrants,” he said.
By arresting and charging those involved “we’re attempting to take
the profit away from people coming into town so they don’t come
back,” he said. “We’re interrupting flow of drugs into Wooster
by targeting these people and taking the profit factor away, and
that’s the way to do it. You catch them with their dope and their
money, charge them, and hopefully they won’t come back.
“I think (those involved) have ties to a major source of crack cocaine
coming into the community. This has the potential of knocking out a
major source of crack to the area,” DeFelice said.
During the course of the investigation, agents seized about $4,000 cash
and cocaine and crack, packaged for sale, with a street value of $4,000,
DeFelice said.
Charged were:
Arthur E. Ramsey, 55, of 556
1/2 E. North St., Wooster, who pleaded guilty to trafficking in
crack cocaine.
The charge stems from a May 6 incident.
Ramsey was sentenced to six months in prison. The sentence is to be
served concurrent to an 11-month sentence he is serving for breaking and
entering and permitting drug abuse.
Dedrick D. Thomas, 19, of 719
Spink St.,
Wooster,
pleaded not guilty to permitting drug abuse.
The charge stems from a June 5 incident. If convicted, Thomas faces a
maximum sentence of one year in prison and a $2,500 fine.
Maclin D. Bowie, 30, of 912 Weyant Ave.,
Columbus,
is charged with possession of crack cocaine and possession of cocaine.
The charges stem from a June 11 incident, and he is scheduled to be
arraigned Aug. 13. If convicted, Bowie
faces a maximum sentence of 6 1/2 years in prison and fines of up to
$15,000.
Ahmed N. Palmer, 19, of 147 S. Grant St.,
Wooster,
is charged with trafficking in crack cocaine.
The charge stems from a June 5 incident, and he is scheduled to be
arraigned Aug. 13. If convicted, Palmer faces a maximum sentence of one
year in prison and a $1,000 fine.
James F. Wright Jr., 46, formerly of 658
E. Henry St.,
Wooster,
is charged with trafficking in crack cocaine. The charge stems from a
July 3 incident, and he is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 13. If
convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a
$10,000 fine.
Tangela M. Wright, 31, formerly of 658
E. Henry St.,
Wooster,
is charged with trafficking in crack cocaine and complicity to
trafficking in crack cocaine. The charge stems from incidents on July 3
and 4, and she is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 13. If convicted, she
faces a maximum sentence of 6 1/2 years in prison and fines totaling
$15,000.
Warrants have been issued for two others believed to be involved in the
drug ring, and additional charges are expected,
DeFelice said.
The Wooster Police Department assisted in the investigation.
Reporter Christine L. Pratt can be reached at (330) 287-1643 or e-mail
cpratt@the-daily-record.com.
Drug raid ‘well worth the effort’
September 30, 2003
WOOSTER
- Officers recovered more than $2,000 worth of powder cocaine during an
early morning drug raid at an Akron Road
residence on Monday.
“It was definitely a source of cocaine in City of Wooster
and Wayne
County.
With that amount, it’s not a personal use issue, especially when
it’s packaged in street sale amounts,” said Chuck DeFelice, director
of the Medway Drug Enforcement Agency.
A search warrant was issued for a residence in the 1700 block of Akron
Road,
according to Lt. Steve Glick of the Wooster Police Department.
The warrant, signed by Wayne County Juvenile/Probate Judge Raymond Leisy,
was requested after an ongoing undercover drug trafficking investigation
indicated possible drug activity at the residence, DeFelice said.
“We had gotten information in the past, and had been watching for the
past few days,” Glick said.
Seventeen grams of cocaine worth $2,125, a small amount of suspected
marijuana, unknown prescription medication, drug paraphernalia and about
$700 in cash were seized. An unloaded .38-caliber revolver was found in
a bedroom near scales coated with suspected drug residue, Glick said.
Arrested on a pending warrant charging her with falsification was
Kristen R. Wissner, 20, of 4339 Millbrook Road,
Wooster.
Wissner was one of four people, including a juvenile, at the residence
at the time of the search by Medway, Wooster Police and the Wayne County
Sheriff’s Office.
Another man was arrested, but charges have yet to be filed against him
and others involved in the suspected drug activity, DeFelice said.
“Based on what we found, it was well worth the effort. It definitely
indicated drug activity was going on. That’s a good amount of cocaine
for Wooster,”
Glick said.
Reporter Christine L. Pratt can be reached at (330) 287-1643 or e-mail
cpratt@the-daily-record.com.
Beefed up drug enforcement showing results in Doylestown
October 27, 2003
DOYLESTOWN - Drug busts in the village are nearly five times higher
this year than in 2002, the chairman of the village’s safety committee
reported.
Councilman Mike Agnoni said so far this year, Chief Jerry Foys’ police
officers have been involved in 68 drug busts, compared to 14 for all of
2002.
“The thing is, we have developed informational sources and have a
better relationship with Medway Drug Enforcement Agency and the Wayne
County Sheriff’s Office,” Foys said.
“When I first got here, there really wasn’t much of a relationship
with Medway,” the chief added. At the time, the department wasn’t
sending an officer to Medway meetings, but that has changed.
“Doylestown has been real active,” said Medway Director Chuck
DeFelice. “(Chief Foys’) encouragement of his troops to be involved
with Medway speaks volumes.”
Sheriff’s Capt. Doug Hunter said Chippewa
Township,
which includes Doylestown, is one of the highest populated townships in
the county, and officers have been undergoing more training to detect
drug activity there.
In addition to more training, there has been more sharing of information
among the agencies, Hunter said.
“When you share information and work together, there is increased and
more efficient law enforcement,” the captain said.
One of the village’s officers has a passion for drug enforcement,
which has helped the department realize an increase of nearly 500
percent in drug busts, Agnoni said. “Police officers have their
specialties, and with this guy, it is drug enforcement.”
Because of the undercover work involved, neither Foys nor Agnoni were
comfortable with disclosing the officer’s name. He serves as a liaison
to Medway.
Because Medway does not have the personnel to know of all the drug
activity in Medina
and Wayne
counties, liaisons play important roles, DeFelice said. “They know
where to direct us and how to assist.”
Other factors that have helped in the increased drug busts include how
information is gathered from drug dealers during undercover drug buys to
how the officers handle random vehicle stops, Foys said.
“There are other factors, too, but I don’t want to give out
everything we do,” the chief added. “There’s a lot of things I
really can’t tell you because of the nature of investigations.”
The police department also receives more calls from people who suspect
drug activity. The department does not have Caller ID, so the tips that
come in remain anonymous, the chief said.
“We’re very, very proud of the department,” Agnoni said. “Chief
Foys is doing the things we thought he would be doing when we hired him
three years ago, and the drug busts speak highly of the officers he has
hired.”
Reporter Bobby Warren can be reached at (330) 287-1638 or e-mail bwarren@the-daily-record.com.
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