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YPD chief: Heroin seizure largest I’ve seen
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
City vice squad members serving a search warrant Dec. 10 at a McHenry Street home as part of an investigation into crack- cocaine sales instead found about $500,000 worth of heroin, leading to the indictment of a man on drug-trafficking charges.
The amount of heroin, about 3 pounds, led Police Chief Robin Lees to call it the largest-ever heroin seizure in the city and the largest he has seen in more than 30 years in law enforcement.
Lees has spent a majority of his career investigating major narcotics crimes and said the most heroin he has seen seized at one time was a pound. The fact so much was found in the East Side home at one time is a sure sign of the demand and availability of the drug, he said.
“To find that amount of dope in a house like that just indicates the extent of the problem,” Lees said.
U.S. marshals are searching for the man who was the target of the warrant – Phillip Lemon, 27. Lees said marshals believe Lemon knows he is wanted and is on the run. He was not at the home when police served the warrant and has not been seen by police since.
The serving of the warrant about 6:40 p.m. Dec. 10 capped off an investigation that began in November after the vice squad received tips and complaints that crack cocaine was being sold from the 1003 McHenry St. home.
An affidavit accompanying a search warrant for the home said crack cocaine was observed being sold from the home twice during the week of Nov. 23 and once during the week of Dec. 7.
Also seized during the search was $480 in cash, two .22-caliber semiautomatic pistols, several rounds of .22-caliber ammunition and two scales.
No crack cocaine, which was the reason for the investigation in the first place, was found. The warrant, however, included language that would cover finding other drugs or items associated with drug trafficking.
The heroin was found in two rooms of the house, according to the search warrant return.
A Mahoning County grand jury indicted Lemon on Thursday on charges of trafficking in heroin with a major drug offender specification as well as two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Lemon was sentenced in federal court in 2012 after he was indicted in 2011 for being part of a ring distributing heroin on the East Side. He was one of 25 people indicted in the U.S. Northern District Court of Ohio. A county grand jury indicted an additional 37 people for their roles in the ring.
Lemon pleaded guilty and was to serve 30 months in prison, but he failed to appear and was indicted on another federal charge in 2012 for skipping his sentencing. He was taken into custody in that case, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 months. Records do not show if that sentence was concurrent or consecutive to the 30-month sentence he received as part of the drug ring.
In May 2014, he was indicted in Mahoning County as being a member of the E Block gang on the West Side even though he was still in prison. He pleaded guilty in that case in December 2014 and was given a nine-month sentence to run concurrent with his federal sentences. Due to all three cases, he is on three years’ probation.
Lees said from the amount of heroin found when the warrant was served, he believes Lemon and maybe some others were “cutting” the drug, or diluting it to increase its volume, before giving it to other dealers to sell. He added they may even had been planning on keeping some for themselves to sell.
“With this amount, it’s obviously for distribution,” Lees said. “It would be uncommon for a street-level dealer to have amounts like this on hand.”
Marshals ask that anyone who has information on Lemon’s whereabouts call them at 866-4WANTED or text keyword WANTED and the tip to TIP411 (847411).