WARREN 12 charged with drug trafficking

The TMHA residents arrested on drug charges may soon be evicted.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A six-month investigation into drug trafficking in and around a Trumbull Metropolitan Housing Authority property paid off with the arrests of 12 people.
Trumbull County deputies made the arrests Thursday morning on secret indictments charging the 12 with drug trafficking. Eleven arrests were made at the Riverview Apartments, 250 Tod Avenue N.W. Riverview is a TMHA property. Deputies arrested the 12th person at a Peace Street home.
"The drugs involved are heroin, crack, powder cocaine, marijuana and prescription pills, including OxyContin," said Ernest Cook, chief of operations for the sheriff's department.
OxyContin is a painkiller that is mainly prescribed for those in chronic pain, such as cancer patients, sheriff department officials said.
Deputies have indictments for eight others whom they were not able to locate Thursday.
The 12 were arraigned before Judge Peter Kontos of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court. They all pleaded innocent and were released on bonds ranging from $2,500 to $20,000. Their next court hearings are pending.
The drug charges are not the only problem the TMHA residents will have to face, said Don Emerson, TMHA director.
"We are already in the process of getting them evicted," Emerson said. "We have a zero tolerance for illegal activities, and we hold our residents to the highest standards possible to protect our residents."
Emerson explained that TMHA enforces the federal "one-strike" policy, which calls for eviction of renters who allow drug-related and other criminal activity to take place in their homes.
"Most of our residents are law-abiding citizens, and we want to take steps to keep it that way," Emerson said. "We can't stand for this type of illegal behavior."
sinkovich@vindy.com