Leader of drug trafficking scheme enters plea ahead of trial
May 11—A Toledo man expected to go on trial in a large-scale drug case before a Lucas County jury this week took a last-minute plea deal Tuesday as he also faces an assault charge against a co-defendant.
Marcus J. Smith II, 28, of the 900 block of Pinewood Avenue, was charged with 25 felonies and misdemeanors across five indictments covering March, 2019, and June, 2019.
Prosecutors referenced Smith as "the mastermind" of a drug-trafficking operation involving at least three others. Investigators believe he was a member of the Smith Park Blood Street gang, which identifies as a Bloods gang. Its members have a history of murder, aggravated robbery, and felonious assault convictions, according to records filed in Lucas County Common Pleas Court.
He could have faced up to 64 years in prison if convicted of all the felony charges of heroin, marijuana, fentanyl, and cocaine possession and trafficking, having weapons under disability, receiving stolen property, participating in a criminal gang, illegal assembly, and possessing criminal tools, and misdemeanors of endangering children and illegal use of drug paraphernalia.
Smith had been out on bond, but he was arrested on a warrant Monday by sheriff's deputies for allegedly striking Alecia Turner in the head with a liquor bottle April 25 at a Perrysburg hotel, according to the criminal complaint.
On Tuesday, Smith opted to plead guilty to two felony counts of trafficking in fentanyl and single felony counts of cocaine trafficking and having weapons while under disability.
One charge of possession of heroin was dismissed, while a trafficking and possession of heroin case with Ms. Turner was continued.
Judge Michael Goulding is to sentence Smith on Friday.
The charges stem from a multi-year investigation into the alleged involvement by Smith and three others — Ms. Turner, Christopher Harris, and Eliziah Redd — in a large drug-trafficking operation using the "triangle method," in which sales are conducted at one location, bulk quantities of narcotics at another, and large amounts of currency/profits at the third, according to court records.
Charges were filed after investigators found the narcotics and other items indicative of drug trafficking during search warrants at homes in the 700 block of Western Avenue, the 4000 block of Asbury Drive, the 4100 block of Willys Parkway, and the 1800 block of North McCord Road, as well as at least one traffic stop, court records show.
Ms. Turner's and Mr. Harris' cases are pending, while Redd previously pleaded no contest to a lesser offense of attempt to commit possession of cocaine, a first-degree misdemeanor. He was sentenced to 180 days at the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio.
First Published May 11, 2021, 2:39pm
