Struthers snake-business operator now also faces drug charges

By EMMALEE C. TORISK

etorisk@vindy.com

STRUTHERS

A Fifth Street resident who purportedly ran an online snake-selling business from his two-story duplex now also faces drug charges.

Joseph L. McCollum, 46, was charged with drug abuse, which is a fifth-degree felony, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a fourth-degree misdemeanor, Friday in Struthers Municipal Court, where both he and Michele M. Barrett, 45, answered to charges of child endangering and having dangerous animals for sale or auction.

McCollum’s drug charges were tacked on after authorities returned Tuesday to the 438 Fifth St. residence — where more than 100 snakes and lizards, some venomous, had been confiscated last week — to recover additional evidence, said Detective Jeff Lewis of the Struthers Police Department.

In addition to observing numerous health hazards, including unkempt cages and rodents running loose through the duplex’s rooms, authorities said they found drug paraphernalia, including glass crack and marijuana pipes, a digital scale and aluminum foil with drug residue. McCollum also tested positive for cocaine after his arrest.

Bond has been set at $1,000, with 10 percent cash surety, for the misdemeanor drug charge, and at $2,500, with 10 percent cash surety, for the felony drug charge.

In court on Friday, McCollum and Barrett also waived the right to a preliminary hearing, which turns the fourth-degree felony child- endangering charge over to a Mahoning County grand jury.

In addition, they waived the time limits for their first-degree misdemeanor charge relating to the sale of dangerous animals, for which they pleaded not guilty Tuesday. The court trial for the misdemeanor charge will be reset for some time within the next 60 days, Lewis said.

He added that health department officials haven’t yet decided what to do with the residence, though the police department strongly recommends condemning it, and noted that McCollum and Barrett are not currently living there. Barrett’s 12-year-old son is again in the couple’s custody.

The seized snakes and lizards are being held as evidence. The four venomous snakes remain at the Kentucky Reptile Zoo in Slade, Ky., while the others are at the Herps Alive! Foundation, a Cleveland Heights-based reptile-rescue facility.

Lewis said it’s doubtful that they’ll be returned to McCollum and Barrett, especially since a city ordinance forbids having wild and dangerous animals in the city. The ultimate fate of the reptiles is up to the court, however.

“They could get some of them back,” Lewis said, “but I don’t see it happening.”