12 people were indicted for a drug operation taken down by the Portage County Drug Task Force and other law officials.
According to Portage County Sheriff David Doak, during the week of Feb. 26 the Portage County Drug Task Force, DEA Youngstown Office and the Ohio Attorney General's Office served 11 of 12 secret indictments handed down by the Portage County grand jury. This involved a drug organization responsible for distribution of marijuana and prescription drugs over a four-county area.
The Task Force said in February of 2013, the Task Force and DEA Youngstown Resident Office began receiving information regarding two brothers, identified as Jeremy and Dirk Cales, and their involvement in the illegal trafficking of marijuana and prescription pharmaceutical tablets.
Throughout the investigation, the Task Force said, electronic surveillance was used to identify the Cales customer base as well as their source of supply for the drugs. The customer base covered Portage, Stark, Cuyahoga and parts of Summit counties.
Officials said search warrants were executed in June 2015 in Portage and Stark counties. No arrests were made at that time. Police learned Jeremy Cales was the owner of Smokin Tattoos in Kent.
As a result of the investigation, officials uncovered a marijuana distribution network that was responsible for importing marijuana into Portage County for distribution. During the investigation, officers seized hundreds of kilograms of marijuana, prescription pain medication, a large quantity of money, handguns, and several cars.
Officials said numerous individuals were identified throughout the investigation. 12 people were indicted by the Portage County grand jury on various charges including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, conspiracy to trafficking in marijuana, conspiracy to aggravated trafficking in drugs, trafficking in marijuana, possession of marijuana, aggravated possession of drugs, possession of criminal tools, and money laundering.
The following people were arrested:
- Lawrence Hairston, of Alliance
- Richard Lewis, of Diamond, Ohio
- Valerie Petersen, of Barberton
- Andrea Reshonsky, of Deerfield, Ohio
- Wendy Borton, of Canton
- Dirk Cales, of Mantua, Ohio
- Jeremy Cales, of Windham, Ohio
- Nathan Daniels, of Mantua
- Dennis Geiger, of Canton
- Donald Cole, of Canton
