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YOUNGSTOWN -- Two Mahoning Valley women charged with being part of a local methamphetamine trafficking ring pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court.
Mary E. Clearwater, 39, of Westgate Drive in Braceville, and Courtney P. Wilson, 30, of Youngstown, both went before U.S. Judge Donald C. Nugent. Each was convicted on one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, while Wilson also pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of meth.
The two women will submit to background investigations before being sentenced by Nugent on Nov. 16, court records show. Both remain in federal custody, court records show.
Also named in the indictment were Neil R. Dye, 36, an inmate housed at the Trumbull Correctional Institution in Warren; Jaclyn L. Szachury, 35, an inmate at Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville; Michael A. Lee, 29, an inmate at Grafton Correctional Institute in Lorain County; and Timothy M. Lowery, 33, of Warren. Records show the cases against these four are still proceeding in U.S. Northern Ohio District Court.
Lowery and Clearwater were arrested by Trumbull County sheriff deputies on May 15 at a Southington home with Lowery, who also has a Painesville address, found to have two stab wounds.
The indictment names offenses committed between July 8, 2019, and Dec. 3, 2020. The six were accused of working together to distribute quantities of methamphetamine in communities throughout northern Ohio.
As part of the drug ring, Dye and Szachury are accused of providing meth to Clearwater, who then handed it off to Lee, Wilson and Lowery for distribution throughout the region. At least 500 grams of the drug were involved, officials say. On several occasions, the group is accused of selling meth to confidential FBI sources, the indictment states.
Also, the indictment states Lowery must forfeit $4,300 in seized cash.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Yasmine Makridis and investigated by the FBI, the Mahoning Valley Violent Crimes Task Force, Sheriff Paul Monroe's Trumbull Action Group Drug Task Force, the Warren police Street Crimes Unit, the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Summit County Drug Unit.
gvogrin@tribtoday.com