Several indicted for heroin ring last week have significant record

YOUNGSTOWN

It’s a form of higher education that few enter.

The cost is very high: your freedom and in some cases, your life.

That’s how Youngstown police Chief Robin Lees describes the world of drug dealing in the wake of the indictments of 37 people July 16 for their role in a ring distributing heroin in the city.

Police began rounding up the suspects Tuesday and 27 were arraigned in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Thursday for their roles in the ring. Several of those arraigned are well known to law enforcement, not just as dealers, but users as well.

Lees, who has worked in various narcotics units for most of his law enforcement career, said people who deal drugs regularly go through a process he equates roughly to getting an education.

Read MUCH MORE in Sunday's Vindicator.