News
Drug Supplier Sentenced To 17 Years In Prison
< < Back to drug-supplier-sentenced-17-years-prisonAthens County Prosecutor's Office Press Release – Brandon Jorge Allen, 29, of Detroit, was found guilty and sentenced after 5:00 p.m. today by Athens County Common Pleas Judge George McCarthy to 17 years in prison for his role in leading a drug ring out of Detroit that supplied illegal drugs into Southeastern Ohio. After leaving prison, Allen will be subject to an additional 5 years of Community Control. In addition, he must pay $100,000 to the Prosecutor’s Law Enforcement Trust Fund to reimburse Athens County for the cost of the investigation into his case. He must produce $80,000 of that total amount by September 25th or he will face forfeiture of his home where he resided in Detroit. Many of Mr. Allen’s other assets will be subject to forfeiture including a 2004 Buick, a $50,000 Rolex Watch, multiple pair of Air Jordan shoes, Playstation 4, X Box 1, and other property.
The forfeiture of the cost of the investigation money gives the Athens County Prosecutor’s office the resources to go after anyone who tries to copy this criminal enterprise. Prosecutor Blackburn stated, “Resources will not limit our community’s ability to protect itself. We will not stand by and watch friends and neighbors be victimized by dealers who seek to profit from their addiction.”
Judge McCarthy’s finding of guilt resulted in the 17-year sentence against Allen. Of the twelve counts Allen pled to, there were ten (10) counts of Aggravated Trafficking in Drugs; one (1) count of Aggravated Possession of Drugs; and one (1) count of Engaging in a Pattern of Corrupt Activity.
Allen supplied an Athens County drug network centered in Glouster, where a series of drug arrests produced evidence that led investigators to Detroit. Allen was arrested on July 25th at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport as he boarded a flight to the Dominican Republic. That same day, investigators from the Athens County Prosecutor’s Office, together with federal and local officers in Detroit, executed a search warrant on Allen’s residence collecting evidence in the case.
“Justice was done today,” said Blackburn. “Drug traffickers everywhere should know that there will be severe consequences for those who send drugs into our community. Mr. Allen’s conviction today sends a strong message. We’re fighting back.”
Allen is the Detroit connection who supplied drugs to a ring operating out of Glouster, Ohio. The investigation into that ring has resulted in charges being filed against more than a dozen individuals. To date, five other individuals – John Casey Metcalf, Derek Gyure, Clayton Ohlinger, Bert C. Sharrer and Kendra Sharrer –have been sentenced to prison.
The unprecedented investigation into the Detroit drug pipeline involved the issuance of dozens of subpoenas and search warrants, on-the-ground intelligence gathering in and outside of Ohio, the examination of hundreds of hours of jail phone calls, monitoring social media activities, examination of public and business records, phone records and interviews with offenders and confidential informants.
The investigation was led by the Athens County Prosecutor’s Office, the Athens County Sheriff’s Office, the police departments from Athens City, Ohio University, Nelsonville and Middleport, and the Meigs County Sheriff’s Office. These local agencies also received help from the Ohio State Highway Patrol, prosecutors in Wood County, Ohio and Wayne County, Michigan, the Michigan State Police Intelligence Unit, the Detroit Police Department, the Sumter County’s Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina, police officers in West Virginia, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.