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An inmate at the Ohio Reformatory for Women pleaded guilty Friday to federal charges accusing her of being part of a Mahoning Valley methamphetamine trafficking ring.
Jaclyn L. Szachury, 35, who is serving a 3.25-year sentence for drug-trafficking and possession offenses out of Portage and Summit counties, appeared via video link to U.S. Judge Donald C. Nugent's courtroom.
Szachury, formerly of Aurora, pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. She is expected to be sentenced 9:30 a.m. Jan. 20, 2022, by Nugent after she undergoes a background investigation compiled by the federal court's probation department.
Szachury is the last of six defendants to admit to offenses in the federal drug conspiracy investigation.
Also to be sentenced in the same case are Michael Allen Lee, 30, an inmate at Grafton Correctional Institution in Lorain County; Neil R. Dye, 36, an inmate housed at Trumbull Correctional Institution in Warren; Mary E. Clearwater, 39, of Braceville; and Courtney P. Wilson, 30, of Youngstown, who all earlier pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute meth. Wilson and Lee also each were convicted of one count of distributing meth.
Another defendant, Timothy M. Lowery, 33, of Warren, pleaded guilty in federal court on July 23 to charges of conspiracy to distribute meth, possession with intent to distribute meth and possession of an unregistered firearm. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 22 before Nugent.
Meanwhile, Clearwater and Wilson are set to be sentenced Nov. 16, while sentencing is set for Dye on Nov. 23. Lee is expected to be sentenced on Jan. 11, 2022, records show.
The six were indicted in a case investigated by the FBI, the Mahoning Valley Violent Crimes Task Force, Sheriff Paul onroe's Trumbull Action Group Drug Task Force, the Warren police Street Crimes Unit, the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Summit County Drug Unit.
The indictment states the offenses were 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.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Yasmine Makridis.
gvogrin@tribtoday.com