Ashtabula County officials announce they will leave Trumbull Ashtabula drug unit

Staff report

WARREN

The Ashtabula County prosecutor and sheriff notified Trumbull County officials Tuesday that they are terminating the agreement that governs the Trumbull Ashtabula Group Law Enforcement Task Force and forming their own drug unit effective May 31.

The termination came just after Trumbull County Sheriff Paul Monroe announced last week that he is replacing the longtime TAG commander, Jeff Orr, a move Ashtabula County officials criticized in a news release Tuesday.

“The Trumbull County sheriff does not have unilateral authority to appoint and presumably terminate the TAG commander,” the release says.

The agreement that governs TAG requires the advisory board that governs TAG, consisting of officials from Ashtabula and Trumbull counties, to make such decisions, the release says.

Monroe could not be reached late Tuesday to comment on the news release. Trumbull County Commissioner Frank Fuda said Monroe is on vacation this week.

He and Commissioner Enzo Cantalamessa both said they didn’t know the termination of the contract was being considered and hadn’t talked with Monroe about it. Fuda said such matters are not under the control of the commissioners other than funding for the unit.

The advisory board consists of two representatives from the sheriff’s offices of each county and a representative for the prosecutor from each county, the Ashtabula County news release says.

Though Monroe said at a news conference last week that Orr would no longer serve as TAG commander after May 1, the news release says Ashtabula County authorities have advised Trumbull officials that “Jeff Orr should remain as TAG commander through May 31.”

It adds that the advisory board should meet as soon as possible to divide TAG’s assets.

Ashtabula County intends to create its own drug-enforcement task force, similar to TAG but only covering Ashtabula County, the release says.

According to the TAG website, the unit was created shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America. Its focus has been on drug traffickers, gangs, firearm traffickers and homeland security issues, the website says.

Monroe said last week he made the change from Orr to Howland police detective Tony Villaneuva because of a “difference in philosophies” between Monroe and Orr “and the direction we want our drug unit to head.”

Monroe said he would be discussing the change from Orr to Villanueva at a TAG board meeting May 11 and didn’t expect there to be any issue with the change.