Saturday, September 16, 2017
Staff report
YOUNGSTOWN
John G. Simer II, 38, of Maryland Avenue Northeast in Warren was arraigned Friday in federal court on charges he sold heroin that resulted in the overdose death of a Warren woman March 20.
Simer waived a hearing to set bond and is being detained in the Mahoning County jail pending trial.
He will get a mandatory 20-year prison sentence if convicted of the charge for heroin distribution resulting in death. Another charge he faces could add another five years.
Simer sold heroin to the woman March 19, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Northern District of Ohio. One day later, the 31-year-old woman ingested the heroin and died.
Simer is indicted on seven charges, including possession with intent to distribute cocaine, being a felon in possession of firearms, using firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking and being a felon in possession of body armor.
Warren police served a search warrant on Simer’s home April 19, according to a Warren police report.
During the search, police recovered heroin and cocaine, a pistol, 58 rounds of ammunition and body armor. Previous convictions for aggravated robbery and firearms offenses made it illegal for him to have a firearm or body armor.
Simer also gave permission to search his home Friday when police arrested him, and they found what appears to have been drugs in the home, said Marisa T. Darden, assistant U.S. attorney, who is prosecuting the case.
“Heroin has caused a staggering amount of pain and death across our state, particularly in Trumbull County,” said U.S. Attorney Justin E. Herdman. “We will continue to seek long prison sentences for people who sell heroin and profit off this epidemic.”