All Eight Individuals Indicted in Large-Scale Heroin Trafficking Ring Found Guilty

Jimmie Goodgame was sentenced to nearly six years in prison today for laundering more than $1.5 million in drug proceeds through numerous bank accounts and the purchase of more than 50 luxury automobiles, law enforcement officials said.

Goodgame, 42, of Solon, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder money derived from drug proceeds drug proceeds. He was sentenced to 70 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Patricia Gaughan.

All eight people indicted last year for their roles in a large-scale heroin trafficking ring that brought drugs into Northeast Ohio and then laundered the money have been found guilty and all but one has been sentenced, according to court documents.

“This case is shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that law enforcement in our region will work together to not only follow the drug flow, but also the money trail,” said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

Darryl Williams, Special Agent in Charge of the IRS-Criminal Investigation’s Cincinnati field office, said: “IRS-CI is united with the rest of the law enforcement community in our resolve to financially disrupt criminal organizations that commit crimes against our society.”

Stephen D. Anthony, Supervisor in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Cleveland office, said: “We are committed to tracking and forfeiting the assets of those individuals who are involved in selling illegal drugs.”

The drug organization, led by Addonnise Wells and Mario Freeman, utilized an apartment on Edgewater Drive in Lakewood as a “stash house” for their heroin before dealing it from homes on East 125th and East 127th streets in Cleveland, according to court documents.

Freeman and others then laundered their drug profits through Jimmie Goodgame and his wife, Stacey Goodgame, primarily through the purchase of luxury automobiles titled to companies owned by the Goodgames, according to court documents.

Jimmie Goodgame deposited more than $1.5 million in cash into accounts he controlled between 20008 and 2010. The Goodgames had more than 50 automobiles titled to their three companies in 2010, including multiple Range Rovers, Porsches, Audis, Cadillacs, Mercedes Benzs, BMWs, a Range Rover and a Maserati, among other vehicles. The cars were actually driven and controlled by drug dealers, according to court documents.

The crimes stretched from March 2007 through February 2011.

Sentences already handed down include:

• James Jones, 29, of Cleveland: 50 months in prison for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute heroin.
• John Toone, 61, of California: three years’ supervised release for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute marijuana.
• Stacy Goodgame, 41, of Reminderville, Ohio: 18 months in prison for conspiracy to launder money derived from drug proceeds.
• Mario Freeman, 28, of Garfield Heights, Ohio: 87 months in prison for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute heroin.
• Aaron Phillips, 29, of Hartville, Ohio: three years’ probation (including eight months home confinement) for conspiracy to launder money derived from drug proceeds.
• Addonnise Wells, 29, of Cleveland: 70 months in prison for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute heroin.
• Dimitris Terry, 40, of Westmont, Illinois, will be sentenced on March 8 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to launder money derived from drug proceeds.

Wells supplied Freeman with heroin, and the two men used 505 (upstairs)/507 (downstairs) East 125th Street and 475 East 127th Street, Cleveland, as distribution centers. They also used 11843 Edgewater Drive, Apartment 302, Lakewood as a “stash house.” Freeman and Wells also engaged in counter-surveillance measures designed to evade law enforcement, according to court documents.

Freeman in turn supplied heroin to James Jones, according to court documents.

Jimmie Goodgame established several businesses, including J&G Enterprises I, LLC and Washington Industries, Inc. to purchase and title vehicles for Goodgame’s drug trafficking clients, according to court documents.

Stacy Goodgame allowed her husband to use her company, Goodgame Heavenly Cleaning, and her personal name, to title vehicles for his drug trafficking clients. She also allowed her husband to use her business bank account to conduct financial transactions, including cash deposits, checking and electronic withdrawals, for vehicle down payments and financing, according to court documents.

Jimmie Goodgame made false representations to car dealerships and salespeople in order to obtain vehicles for his drug trafficking clients, and in turn, charged those drug trafficking clients a fee or tax for obtaining the vehicles, according to the indictment.

Jimmie Goodgame also used multiple bank accounts to disguise the nature and amounts of money he received from his drug trafficking clients, and used wire transfers to engage in financial activities on behalf of Freeman, according to court documents.

In March 2007, $504,520 packaged in heat-sealed plastic was transported in a hidden compartment of a vehicle titled to Goodgame, according to the indictment.

Goodgame made cash deposits of more than $1.5 million between January 2008 and October 2010 in four bank accounts he controlled. Over the same time period, he made withdrawals of more than $1 million for vehicle down payments and financing, according to court documents.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward F. Feran following an investigation by the Northern Ohio Law Enforcement Task Force (NOLETF), the FBI, IRS, Cleveland Police Department, the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area agents and Hotel Interdiction Team Task Force.

The NOLETF is a long standing multi-agency task force comprised of investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, Cleveland Division of Police, Cleveland Heights Police Department (CHPD), Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO), Euclid Police Department (EPD), Regional Transit Authority (RTA) Police Department, Strongsville Police Department (SPD), University Heights Police Department (UHPD) and Shaker Heights Police Department (SHPD). The NOLETF is also one of the initial Ohio High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) initiatives. The HIDTA Program supports and helps coordinate numerous Ohio drug task forces in their efforts to eliminate, or reduce drug trafficking in the State of Ohio.