Thirteen People Indicted for Trafficking Heroin in Ashtabula

A federal grand jury returned a 42-count indictment against 13 people who are accused of participating in a large-scale heroin trafficking ring in the Ashtabula areas and resulted in the overdose death of an Ashtabula resident last year. The indicted individuals are: Rayshawn Reed, aka Ray, aka Racey, age 37, Ashtabula, Ohio Sherord Miller, aka Rod, age 30, Ashtabula, Ohio Jamarce Miller, aka Jamie, age 36, Ashtabula, Ohio Amanda Loving, age 30, Geneva, Ohio Isaac Hawkins, age 24, Unknown Louis Snyder, age 48, Ashtabula, Ohio James Robinson, aka Marell Holley, age 37, Ashtabula, Ohio Tricia Lewis, age 35, Ashtabula, Ohio Joey Schmeisser, age 30, Unknown Kevin Fridrich, age 28, Geneva, Ohio Reginald Bryant, aka Reg, age 39, Euclid, Ohio Shaunci Osborne, age 20, Ashtabula, Ohio Laketha Harris, aka Jay, age 35, Ashtabula, Ohio Count one of the indictment charges the defendants with conspiracy to distribute more than a kilogram of heroin, a Schedule I controlled substance. Count two of the indictment charges Sherord Miller and Shaunci Osborne with conspiracy to engage in money laundering, based on their use of a bank safe deposit box to store and conceal profits from the sale of heroin. Count three of the indictment charges Rayshawn Reed with knowingly and intentionally possessing with intent to distribute approximately 171 grams of heroin. Count four of the indictment charges Reginald Bryant with felon-in-possession of a firearm. Counts five through 42 of the indictment charge each defendant with using a communications facility (a telephone) to facilitate a drug trafficking offense. Law enforcement personnel seized heroin, firearms, and more than $320,000 in U.S. currency during the year-long investigation. The indictment also seeks the forfeiture of five vehicles used as part of the conspiracy: a 2004 Chevrolet Suburban, a 2004 Cadillac CTS, a 2002 Cadillac Escalade, a 2004 BMW 745Li, and a 1976 Oldsmobile Cutlass. The indictment alleges that from March 2012 to August 15, 2012, defendant Rayshawn Reed arranged for multiple kilogram quantities of heroin to be brought into Northeast Ohio from the Chicago area. The heroin was then distributed to co-conspirators in Ashtabula, including Sherord Miller and Jamarce Miller. Sherord Miller and Jamarce Miller then resold the heroin to other co-conspirators, including defendants Amanda Loving, Isaac Hawkins, Louis Snyder, James Robinson, Tricia Lewis, Joey Schmeisser, and Kevin Fridrich, and to heroin users. Defendants Shaunci Osborne and Laketha Harris helped Sherord Miller sell and distribute heroin, and Reginald Bryant furnished heroin to the co-conspirators during periods when shortages occurred, according to the indictment. The indictment further alleges that heroin from the conspiracy that had been distributed by Jamarce Miller resulted in the fatal heroin overdose of an Ashtabula-area resident on or about July 7, 2012.