Ottawa County grand jury indicts nine on drug charges
Nine people were indicted by an Ottawa County grand jury on drug-related charges, including possession, trafficking and cultivation.
According to Ottawa County Prosecutor Mark Mulligan, the cases are the culmination of a five-month undercover investigation by the Ottawa County Drug Task Force earlier this year.
“While drug-related crimes remain prevalent throughout the nation, Ottawa County is fortunate to have a drug task force that is effectively working daily to reduce drug use and drug-related crimes in our area,” Mulligan said.
Kirk Schumaker, 38, and Elisabel Schumaker, 34, both of Clay Center, are each facing five felonies charges after authorities allegedly discovered what appeared to be a marijuana grow operation in their home during a domestic violence call in late July.
According to reports from the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office, deputies responding to the domestic call at the couple’s Clay Center residence noticed an overwhelming odor of raw marijuana coming from inside the home.
After obtaining a search warrant, deputies reported founding dozens of marijuana plants in a grow operation inside the residence, as well as psilocybin mushrooms and hashish oil.
Each of the Schumakers was charged with multiple felony counts of possession of drugs and one count of cultivation of marijuana, a third-degree felony.
Kirk Schumaker also was charged with two counts of misdemeanor domestic violence stemming from the July incident.
The other individuals indicted, according to the prosecutor’s office:
• Jacob Kilpatrick, 20, of Toledo, on one count of trafficking heroin. The charge is a fourth-degree felony because the offense allegedly was committed in the vicinity of a juvenile, according to a grand jury specification.
• Fernando Gonzales, 26, of Sandusky, on one count of trafficking cocaine and one count each of complicity to trafficking cocaine and complicity to trafficking heroin, all fifth-degree felonies.
• Anthony Durco II, 59, of Port Clinton, on three counts of trafficking Buprenorphine, a partially synthetic prescription opioid. The charges are all fifth-degree felonies.
• Delano Williams, 37, of Oak Harbor, on three counts of trafficking heroin, one being a fifth-degree felony and two being fourth-degree felonies.
• Andrew Cooper III, 39, of Fremont, on one count of possession of cocaine, a third-degree felony.
• Preston Havens, whose last known address is Tiffin, on two counts of trafficking heroin and cocaine, both fifth-degree felonies. According to authorities, Havens remains at large.
• Obediah Mullaney, 27, of Port Clinton, on one count of trafficking Buprenorphine in the vicinity of a child, a fourth-degree felony, and one count of inducing panic, a fifth-degree felony.
According to reports from the Port Clinton Police Department, officers were called after Mullaney was found unresponsive in September. Toxicology reports indicated that he had opiates in his system at the time of the incident.
“This wasn’t the first time emergency personnel were dispatched to resuscitate Mullaney from suspected opiate abuse,” Mulligan said.
Mulligan noted that an indictment is merely a formal charge and does not denote the guilt or innocence of the accused.
Published by the portclintonnewsherald.com