News

DAYTON, Ohio – The lead defendant in a $1.5 million chop shop conspiracy pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court. 

CINCINNATI – A Middletown man pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to 11 counts of federal child exploitation crimes. The plea agreement includes a recommended sentence of 26 years in prison.  

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Sa’d Watkins, 44, of Columbus, was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 180 months in prison for his role as a multi-kilogram fentanyl and fentanyl analogue supplier to mid and low-level drug traffickers in central Ohio.

CINCINNATI – Myron Billups, 46, of Cincinnati, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to possessing 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. He faces at least 10 years in prison. 

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A previously convicted sex offender was sentenced in federal court to 600 months in prison. The defendant sexually exploited two minor females and forced one of the girls to engage in commercial sex acts with men at hotels. 

COLUMBUS, Ohio – David Price, 56, of Columbus, was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to life plus a consecutive 65 years in prison for his role in a narcotics distribution ring involving bulk amounts of fentanyl, crack cocaine, cocaine, methamphetamine and other narcotics. The defendant purposefully provided a narcotics mix to cause the overdose death of an adult female because she was talking to the police about his drug trafficking. Price also sex-trafficked victims through drug withdrawals and violence.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – An illegal alien from El Salvador pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court today to illegally reentering the United States after being convicted of a felony. 

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Dennis Stopar, 65, of Flushing, Ohio, was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 720 months in prison for sexually exploiting minors and possessing child pornography.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A Columbus man was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to three consecutive life sentences plus an additional 60 consecutive months in prison for murdering three victims as part of a narcotics conspiracy to rob a local marijuana dealer of drugs and cash. The defendant, who was also sentenced to five other life sentences to run concurrently to all other counts, had others dismember and bury two of the bodies to dispose of evidence of his crimes.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A registered sex offender was sentenced in U.S. District Court here today to 360 months in prison for sexually assaulting, exploiting and victimizing children both in person and online.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Today, Acting United States Attorney Kelly A. Norris announced criminal charges against a defendant in connection with an alleged scheme to defraud Medicare and Medicaid. The charges filed in the Southern District of Ohio are part of the Department of Justice’s 2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown. 

CINCINNATI – A father and son who lived an extravagant lifestyle from proceeds of their drug trafficking organization were sentenced in U.S. District Court to 180 months and 150 months in prison respectively.