Five charged with trafficking heroin and crack cocaine in Youngstown; indictment includes specification for fatal overdose last year

A federal grand jury returned a 100-count indictment charging five Youngstown men with distributing heroin and crack cocaine, said Steven M. Dettelbach, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, and Stephen D. Anthony, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Cleveland Office.

The indictment includes a sentencing enhancement charging that one of the defendants, Shayne Mascarella, distributed heroin that directly resulted in the July 19, 2015 death in Youngstown of a person identified in the indictment as L.Z.

Indicted are: William Williams, 33; Derrick Brown, 35; Shayne Mascarella, 22; Tyrell Hollis, 22, and Emmanuel Bunkley, 35.

“This group spread misery throughout the Mahoning Valley in the name of profit,” Dettelbach said. “They destroyed families and one of them is charged with supplying the heroin that killed someone last year. We will continue to do all we can to curtail Ohio’s opioid epidemic, including vigorous criminal prosecutions.”

“These individuals are responsible for bringing large quantities of illegal and deadly drugs to the streets of Youngstown,” Anthony said. “The collaborative effort between law enforcement agencies throughout this two-year investigation has been exceptional and we will continue to work together to make our cities safer.”   

The indictment alleges the five men knowingly conspired to possess with the intent to distribute and to distribute heroin and cocaine base (crack cocaine) between July 2013 and July 23, 2015.

Williams supplied heroin and crack cocaine to Brown, Mascarella, Hollis, Bunkley and others for distribution in the Youngstown area. It was further part of the conspiracy that Brown supplied heroin and crack cocaine to Mascarella for distribution in the Youngstown area, according to the indictment.

On or about July 19, 2015, Mascarella distributed heroin to a person which resulted in a drug overdose and the victim’s death, according to the indictment.

It was further part of the conspiracy that cellular telephones, code words and phrases were used by the co-conspirators to facilitate their drug trafficking activities.

If convicted, the defendants’ sentences will be determined by the court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violations.  In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and, in most cases, it will be less than the maximum.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jason M. Katz and David M. Toepfer. The investigation preceding the indictment was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mahoning Valley Violent Crimes Task Force, which includes officers from the Boardman Police Department and Mahoning County Sheriff's Office. 

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.  A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.