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Feds seek $75K forfeiture in drug case
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Federal prosecutors are seeking to seize more than $59,000 found when a search warrant was served in March 2018 investigating drug activity at an Austintown man’s house.
An indictment unsealed this week in the U.S. Northern District Court of Ohio charges Turhon R. Campbell, 37, with possession with intent to distribute cocaine; possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition; and 20 counts of money laundering.
The indictment was issued Feb. 28 and unsealed Wednesday when Campbell was arrested. He is being held by federal authorities without bail pending a detention hearing Monday.
In addition to $59,786 in cash found March 5, 2018, when Campbell’s Washington Square Drive home was searched, prosecutors also are seeking to seize $15,375 that was found the next day in a bank account and a parcel of property on Sigle Lane in Boardman, as well as a Ruger 9 mm semi-automatic pistol that was found when the warrant was served.
The indictment says Campbell is barred from having a gun because of a 2011 conviction in drug charges in Michigan, where he was convicted of possession with intent to distribute marijuana.
The indictment said Campbell had more than 500 grams of cocaine – a little more than a pound – in his home when the search warrant was served.
The money-laundering accounts accuse Campbell of engaging in 13 separate exchanges of cash with money he received from drug dealing at the Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course in February and March 2018 and also by transferring funds greater than $10,000 seven times to various accounts.