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Prosecutors: Ex-recovery center owner caught with steroids, cocaine
By JUSTIN DENNIS
LISBON
A 15-count Columbiana County indictment alleges federal investigators found several different kinds of anabolic steroids and stimulants, such as cocaine and amphetamines, at the home of a former recovery center owner.
The indictment of Ryan P. Sheridan, 38, of Leetonia, filed secretly Oct. 17 in Columbiana County court includes 14 felony counts and one misdemeanor count of drug possession.
Sheridan is the former owner of Braking Point Recovery Center, a drug-abuse treatment center with locations in Austintown, Whitehall and Wooster, which was under state and federal scrutiny last year for possible Medicare fraud, though charges were never filed.
Though investigators found some of those drugs in large quantities during an Oct. 18, 2017, raid at Sheridan’s Leetonia home, according to the indictment, Sheridan is not facing trafficking charges, said chief assistant county Prosecutor John Gamble.
Records show Sheridan was arrested last week. A judge released him on a $25,000 personal recognizance bond. He is set for arraignment Nov. 15 before Columbiana County Judge Scott Washam. Court records do not list an attorney for Sheridan.
Gamble said the majority of Columbiana County’s felony cases are presented secretly to the county grand jury. The panel only meets once a month, which can challenge the court’s requirement to provide a speedy trial. In Sheridan’s case, prosecutors were waiting for the investigation to catch up before serving the indictment, he said.
A federal civil forfeiture case against Sheridan was put on hold in May pending the outcome of a federal criminal investigation into health care fraud and money laundering, court records show.