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Two Mahoning Valley women convicted of being part of a local methamphetamine trafficking ring both were sent to federal prison by a U.S. District judge.
Mary E. Clearwater, 40, of Westgate Drive in Braceville, and Courtney P. Wilson, 30, of Youngstown, both went before U.S. Judge Donald C. Nugent of the Northern Ohio District Court last week.
Clearwater was given a 72-month sentence, while Wilson was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
In July, both women pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, while Wilson also pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of meth.
Nugent ordered Clearwater to attend a 500-hour residential drug-abuse program after her release, which includes three years of supervised parole. Clearwater was assessed $100 in costs and had to forfeit $4,300 in cash seized during her arrest.
Wilson also was ordered to attend 500 hours of residential drug-abuse programming and faces three years of supervised release. She was assessed $200 in costs.
A sentencing memorandum for Wilson noted that she had a habit of using one ball of meth daily. When her grandfather died in March, she also was using two grams of heroin daily, the memo stated.
The memo also showed that Wilson had lived with Clearwater, who was tagged as the ringleader of the conspiracy. Wilson had stated she had committed these acts because of her drug and alcohol abuse, which began at age 10.
Also named in the indictment were Neil R. Dye, 37, an inmate housed at the Trumbull Correctional Institution in Leavittsburg; Jaclyn L. Szachury, 35, an inmate at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville; Michael A. Lee, 30, an inmate at Grafton Correctional Institution in Lorain County; and Timothy M. Lowery, 33, of Warren.
All pleaded guilty to charges connected to the meth conspiracy. Sentencing for Lowery is scheduled for Monday, Dye on Tuesday, and both Szachury and Lee are scheduled to be sentenced in early 2022, according to court records.
Dye's attorney, James Kersey, submitted a memo to the court seeking a sentence for his client to coincide with the state sentence he is serving at the Trumbull prison, which is scheduled to end Oct. 22, 2022. That prison term resulted from a Portage County drug-trafficking conviction.
Kersey stated that Dye needs intensive drug treatment because his addictions began at age 12 or 13.
Lowery and Clearwater were arrested by Trumbull County sheriff's deputies 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.
The case was prosecuted by U.S. Assistant 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 Street Crimes Unit, the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Summit County Drug Unit.
gvogrin@tribtoday.com