Two Columbus men allegedly threw 71 grams of crack cocaine and a loaded gun out the window of a Harmar home Thursday, but that wasn't enough to keep them both from being charged with first-degree felonies.
Members of the Major Crimes Task Force charged Brandon Jennings, 24, of 2122 Fenton St., Columbus, and Demetrius Haley, 23, of 2381 Delavan Drive, Columbus, with possession of cocaine. Charges related to the .45 caliber handgun also found will likely be added, said Washington County Sheriff Larry Mincks.
Each man's bond was set at $100,000 in Marietta Municipal Court Friday. They are scheduled for preliminary hearings at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Haley was already out of jail on a $5,000 bond for a fourth-degree felony charge of trafficking in cocaine. A Reno woman arrested out of the same March incident as Haley pled guilty in Washington County Common Pleas Court Friday to three felony drug charges.
The 71 grams of crack cocaine found Thursday has a street value of between $15,000 and $20,000, according to the sheriff.
"This was a pretty huge amount of crack cocaine," Mincks said. "There have been a growing number of people from out of the area coming into Marietta for a short time, selling their product and then going back because there is more demand here. The same amount in Columbus would only get them half as much."
Haley and Jennings also fit another disturbing trend, Mincks said.
"We've been finding more and more, with alarming frequency, people engaged in selling drugs that are carrying firearms," he said.
When officers arrived with a search warrant Thursday evening at the back residence of 134 Franklin St., they discovered the crack and gun that had been dropped out of a window. They found Haley and Jennings in the room with the window. No one else was in the home, Mincks said.
Both men said the items belonged to the other when questioned.
Mincks said information from neighbors was a help in the case and that residents in every neighborhood should take notice if there is a lot of traffic coming and going from a home or someone who seems to be staying in the area part-time.
Anonymous tips can be left for the Washington County Sheriff's Office at its Web site, www.washingtoncountysheriff.org.
A resident who lives near the Franklin Street home said Friday that all the neighbors suspected illegal activity at the home.
"We're all disgusted," said the woman, who asked not to be identified. "They can take that stuff back to Columbus and get out of our neighborhood."
Michelle R. Oldfield, 41, of 27400 State Route 7, Lot 50, Reno, was arrested March 5 after task force members reported finding 3.25 ounces of crack cocaine with a street value of more than $15,000 at Oldfield's residence in Reno. Haley and another man were also charged out of the incident.
Oldfield pled guilty before Common Pleas Judge Ed Lane to one fourth-degree felony count and one fifth-degree felony count of trafficking in cocaine as well as one fifth-degree felony count of cocaine possession.
At the time of Oldfield's arrest, Mincks said the drug seizure was the largest in county history.
Washington County Prosecutor Jim Schneider said Oldfield faces a maximum of three-and-a-half years in prison and a $20,000 fine when she is sentenced at 8 a.m. Aug. 28 in Lane's court.
Schneider said Oldfield also changed a not-guilty plea to guilty stemming from drug charges for which she was indicted in early 2007.
Mincks said the sheriff's office is constantly working on community education programs to try to reduce the market for illegal drugs in the area.
"We'll come and speak to anybody," he said. "We want to teach everyone not to touch that stuff and educate the public to lessen the demand here."
The Major Crimes Task Force is composed of representatives from the Athens, Morgan, and Washington County sheriff's offices; Athens, Marietta and Belpre police departments; the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification; and the Athens, Morgan and Washington County prosecuting attorney's offices.
Sam Shawver contributed.
