Prisoners, family members indicted in Ohio drug ring accused of smuggling drug-soaked books

Orri Benatar
·2 min read
1

ZANESVILLE, Ohio (WCMH) — 14 Ohio inmates and their family members are facing dozens of charges accusing them of smuggling drugs into various prisons.

The Muskingum County Prosecutor’s Office said multiple people charged in the ring were girlfriends and family members of prisoners, who smuggled drugs in corrections facilities around the state that were later laundered. Court documents said the offenses took place from September 2022 through March 2023.

The prosecutor’s office accused the people involved of making hundreds of thousands of dollars by selling “faces,” small squares of paper that are soaked in meth or suboxone, a chemical used as a treatment for opioid addiction. The Ohio State Highway Patrol, who led the investigation, also uncovered a plot to publish and sell a book with drug-soaked pages.

How Ohio lawmakers are looking to crack down on ‘junk fees’

The prisons listed in the May 15 indictment included Southern Ohio correctional facility in Lucasville, Warren correctional institution in Lebanon, as well as the Ross and Chillicothe correctional institutions.

Among the 14 people indicted, six of them are currently in prison or served a previous sentence. All of the various counts are felonies, including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, money laundering, drug trafficking, and more. The suspects include:

  • Justin Alexander, 45 (Zanesville, serving 25-year sentence)

  • Lisa Davis, 49 (Zanesville, Alexander’s sister)

  • Tondalea Hale, 54 (Zanesville, Alexander’s aunt)

  • Jessica Queen, 46 (Belpre, Alexander’s girlfriend)

  • Kashawn Cox, 28 (Zanesville, serving 7-year sentence)

  • Michelle Lang, 27 (Columbus, Cox’s girlfriend)

  • Emily Goodrich, 27 (Columbus, mother of Cox’s child)

  • Ken Gatlin II, 28 (Zanesville, serving 16-year sentence)

  • Vanita McCrae, 42 (Zanesville, Gatlin’s sister)

  • Randall Cremeans, 39 (Zanesville, serving 30-year sentence)

  • Kyle Ross, 34 (Marion, recently released from prison)

  • Jamaull Jones Jr., 27 (Cleveland, serving 6-year sentence)

  • Heaven Gouldlock, 26 (Cleveland, Jones’s girlfriend)

  • Sasha Hill, 25 (Cleveland, Jones’s sister)

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.