Ronnell Leeper, 31, of Columbus, faces charges of trafficking drugs Sherika Banks, 25, of Columbus, is charged with permitting drug abuse

Ronnell Leeper, 31, of Columbus, faces charges of trafficking drugs - cocaine, and possession of drugs - crack cocaine. Both are third-degree felonies.Sherika Banks, 25, of Columbus, is charged with permitting drug abuse, a fifth-degree felony.After a three-month investigation, Fairfield-Hocking Major Crimes Unit had the Lancaster Police conduct a traffic stop on Leeper - who was driving in the 100 block of East Sixth Avenue.Banks was a passenger in Leeper's car.Major Crimes Unit Cmdr. Eric Brown said Leeper, the target of the investigation, was arrested with 18.5 grams of crack cocaine, which has a street value of 100 to 150 a gram."We consider (Leeper) to be a mid- to upper-level dealer," said Brown. "He was more than the street corner drug dealer. He was bringing crack cocaine to the this community on a regular basis."
Brown said Leeper, known on the street as "Duke," was going out into the rural parts of the county to sell drugs as well as the city."We are very familiar with his (criminal) history," Brown said. "He was known to deal (drugs) in Fairfield County and in the City of Lancaster."Lancaster Police arrested Leeper in June 2007 on charges of drug trafficking and possession of drugs.His disposition for those charges was unknown at the time of publication. Brown said the drug bust was a joint operation between the Major Crimes Unit, Lancaster Police Department and the Fairfield County Sheriff's Office.Leeper is being detained at the Fairfield County Jail on a $500,000 cash surety bond.Banks is being detained at the Fairfield County Jail on a $50,000 cash surety bond.

Toby Jermaine Person agents searched his vehicle and hotel room, they found 59 grams of crack cocaine, 14 grams of powder cocaine

Toby Jermaine Person, 32, of Columbus, pleaded guilty to the drug charge in July, the news release said. On July 31, 2006, officers with the Parkersburg Narcotics Task Force apprehended Person after a traffic stop that led to a foot chase in Parkersburg, according to the release.When agents searched his vehicle and hotel room, they found 59 grams of crack cocaine, 14 grams of powder cocaine, 1.8 kilograms of marijuana, 148 ecstasy pills and more than $8,000, the release states.
Chief U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin imposed the sentence.

Nathan Zavodny

Nathan Zavodny.Zavodny pleaded guilty to delivery of a controlled substance in connection with the distribution of methamphetamine in the Columbus area. He was one of a dozen people arrested in a roundup of suspected drug dealers in late-September.
Delivery of meth is a Class II felony, punishable by a maximum of 50 years imprisonment and a minimum of one year imprisonment.
Platte County Attorney Andrea Belgau told the judge that Zavodny had walked out of an out-patient drug treatment program last month and was not a candidate for probation. “Your prolonged drug abuse (from the age of 11) and your meth use have spun your life out of control.”