Warren man charged with possessing 3.6 pounds of heroin to be evaluated

Staff report

CLEVELAND

For a second time, a federal judge has approved a motion to have a competency evaluation done on a Warren man charged in federal court with possessing 3.6 pounds of heroin.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Boyko on Wednesday ordered an evaluation to determine whether Ricardo McKinney, 29, understands the legal proceedings taking place against him.

A previous attorney, Walter Madison of Akron, earlier requested the same type of evaluation last October, and Judge Boyko approved it, but later the request was rescinded.

Madison said at the time that McKinney was “fixed upon the idea of certain motions being filed that have no legal basis or support in current federal or state law.”

McKinney admits he doesn’t understand law and mentions a “legal book” he has read in his jail pod but has never produced the book, Madison said. McKinney also appeared to have trouble focusing on any one issue long enough to discuss or reach an agreement on trial preparation, Madison said.

McKinney has replaced his lawyers twice since then, but his current lawyer, Edwin Vargas of Cleveland, asked the court to have McKinney evaluated to determine if he suffers from a mental illness that renders him unable to comprehend the nature and consequences of the proceedings against him or reasonably assist in his defense.

McKinney was scheduled for trial July 25, but that date is likely to be moved back. The trial was reset last winter because McKinney had threatened the life of one of them, resulting in new attorneys being assigned.

McKinney is charged with heroin distribution and being a felon in possession of a firearm relating to a February 2015 raid at a home on North Road where McKinney was staying and where investigators found 3.6 pounds of suspected heroin with a street value of $250,000, two guns and about $6,000 in cash.