Friday, May 26, 2006
A steel company's melting pot destroyed the evidence.
By SARAH POULTON
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Mahoning County Sheriff's Department melted more than 70 pounds of marijuana, along with other drugs and weapons that had been used in criminal acts.
For the first time in nine years, on Thursday the department destroyed past evidence, dating to 1995, Sheriff Randall A. Wellington said. The evidence has accumulated over the years, and the evidence room can no longer hold it, he said.
The evidence, which included dangerous weapons, drugs, drug paraphernalia and cell phones, was left from hundreds of cases that have been concluded.
The evidence was destroyed in a melting pot at V & amp;M Star, 2669 Martin Luther King Blvd. It disintegrated immediately and was turned into molten steel.
A V & amp;M Star spokesman said the company has an electric arc furnace and relies on scrap metal as raw material. All of the evidence will eventually be turned into steel pipe.
Court OK'd destruction
Common Pleas Judge James C. Evans issued a court order for all of the evidence to be destroyed, Wellington said. Every item was cleared by the judge.
Tim Franken, Mahoning County chief criminal prosecutor, said none of the evidence will ever need to be used again.
"We helped them make sure all cases were closed," Franken said. "We didn't want to get rid of anything that may be used again."
Franken said the melting pot produces such incredible heat that it burns drugs and melts metal almost instantaneously. It burns so hot and so fast that there is no smoke and will not physically affect anyone near it.
The list of items to be destroyed was 59 pages long.
Highlighting the list were dangerous weapons: 464 handguns, 129 long guns including assault rifles and shotguns, 14 swords and 55 knives. Drugs include one 50-pound block and two bales of 21.5 pounds of marijuana, along with 35 large boxes of cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, marijuana, miscellaneous drugs and drug paraphernalia, 30 drug measuring scales and 20 cell phones.
spoulton@vindy.com