Last 2 suspects plead guilty in Ohio drug case

COLUMBUS (AP) — Federal officials say the final two defendants have pleaded guilty in a drug trafficking operation involving big shipments of cocaine and marijuana over more than a decade.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said today that 45-year-old Daniel Walls and 51-year-old Mark May pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to possess and sell hundreds of pounds of marijuana.

Carter Stewart, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, says the two men are the last of 38 defendants that ran a reported cocaine and marijuana ring in south-central Ohio dating back to 1997.

The investigation began with the seizure of 400 pounds of marijuana during a traffic stop in 2004 in Preble County in western Ohio.

Walls and May face up to 40 years in prison.