Seven Toledo Men Indicted for Roles in Bringing Cocaine from Texas to Northwest Ohio

An 11-count indictment was unsealed charging seven Toledo men for their roles in a conspiracy to possess both powder and crack cocaine with the intent to distribute the drugs, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, and Stephen D. Anthony, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Cleveland Office.

Charged are Gale Shelmon, aka G-Force, age 47; Percy Underwood, aka Butch, age 47; Bryant Anderson, aka B, age 34; Larry Jones aka LA, age 45; Justin Toler, aka J-Nut, age 37; Creston White, age 61; and Darryl Brown, aka D, age 28, all of Toledo.

The indictment charges each defendant with conspiring to possess cocaine and crack cocaine with intent to distribute. The indictment also charges four defendants with possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine.

Beginning in or about June 2010 and continuing through the date of the indictment, the defendants were involved in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine in the Toledo area, according to the indictment.

Specifically, the indictment alleges that a co-conspirator obtained substantial quantities of cocaine from sources of supply in Texas. The cocaine was then transported from Texas to Toledo, Ohio, by semi-truck, where it was unloaded, stored, and distributed by the defendants named in the indictment.

The case was accepted and investigated as an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. The OCDETF program is designed to insure that the most sophisticated investigative and prosecutive resources are directed against large-scale organized drug trafficking ventures.

The indictment culminates a two-year investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Toledo Metro Drug Task Force. This Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas P. Weldon and Special Assistant United States Attorney Matthew C. Spaulding.

If convicted, the defendants’ sentences will be determined by the court after a review of factors unique to this case, including the defendants’ prior criminal records, if any; the defendants’ roles in the offenses; and the characteristics of the violations. In all cases, the sentences will not exceed the statutory maximum and, in most cases, will be less than the maximum.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. The burden of proof is always on the government to prove a defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.