Deputy arrested on drug charges

WARREN -- A 51-year-old Mahoning County deputy sheriff has been arrested on 16 counts of deception to obtain illegal drugs.
William Frease of Southern Boulevard in Boardman was arrested at his home by Trumbull County deputies on the charges around 5 p.m. Wednesday, Trumbull County Sheriff Thomas Altiere said.
Frease is being held without bond pending his arraignment in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court. Officials were not sure if Frease would be arraigned today or Friday.
Altiere and Ernie Cook, chief deputy of operations for the sheriff's department, said Frease had been secretly indicted by a Trumbull County grand jury, which reported Wednesday afternoon.
Trumbull pharmacies: Cook said Frease has been indicted on 16 counts of deception to obtain an illegal drug, OxyContin, a prescription painkiller.
"Mr. Frease was indicted in Trumbull County because he went to pharmacies in this county to obtain the drug," Cook said. He added that the Ohio Board of Pharmacies also worked on the case.
Officials declined to say exactly how Frease got the drugs or how much he obtained.
Cook noted that Frease is on administrative leave from the Mahoning County Sheriff's Department. Frease is a sergeant and has been with the department since June 1977.
Mahoning County Sheriff Randall Wellington could not be reached to comment.