Lorain Man Sentenced to Prison for Role in Drug Trafficking Organization

A Lorain man was sentenced to 105 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Pamela A. Barker on July 28, 2022, for his role in a drug trafficking organization responsible for distributing cocaine and heroin in the Lorain County area.

Prince Brown, 37, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possession with intent to distribute cocaine and heroin, possession of a firearm as a felon and other drug possession charges.

According to court documents, from January 2019 to September 2020, Brown and codefendant Mohammed Hamid engaged in a drug trafficking conspiracy that purchased large quantities of cocaine and heroin and redistributed the drugs to other traffickers in Cleveland, Lorain and Elyria, including codefendants Robert Starr, Darian Lopez, Devan Grantham and Amos Jackson. 

Court records state that Brown was arrested in December of 2019 in Cleveland and had in his possession at the time of the arrest  96 grams of heroin and other narcotic substances along with a loaded firearm and $20,000 in drug trafficking proceeds. 

Brown is prohibited from possessing a firearm due to previous convictions of drug trafficking in the Lorain County Common Pleas Court.

Previously sentenced in this matter were Richard Starr, 29, of Fairview Park, Ohio, to 160 months; Amos Jackson, 39, of Elyria, Ohio, to 48 months; Darian Lopez, 28, of Lorain, Ohio, to 32 months and Devan Grantham, 27, of Elyria, Ohio, to 12 months in federal prison.  Mohammed Hamid, 31, of Avon Lake, Ohio, previously pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy and will be sentenced in the future.

This case was investigated as part of Operation Synthetic Opioid Surge (S.O.S.)., an initiative that seeks to reduce the supply of deadly synthetic opioids and to identify wholesale distribution networks and international and domestic suppliers in Lorain County.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Elyria Police Department, Lorain Police Department, Lorain County Drug Task Force and the FBI Cleveland conducted the investigation.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Vasile C. Katsaros and Robert F. Corts.

This effort was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.  Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.