5 Central Ohioans plead guilty in narcotics & human trafficking case that charged 23 total defendants

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Five individuals from Central Ohio have pleaded guilty this week in U.S. District Court to charges stemming from a narcotics conspiracy. The guilty pleas involve an overdose death, sex trafficking and money laundering.

A multi-agency law enforcement task force initially announced the case in July 2022 after a federal grand jury indicted 11 defendants for distributing bulk amounts of fentanyl, cocaine and crack cocaine within 1,000 feet of a Columbus elementary school. In October 2022, the government added 12 defendants and 28 new charges. 

According to court documents, from 2008 until June 2022, lead defendants Patrick Saultz and Cordell Washington ran a large-scale drug trafficking organization in Columbus that included sex trafficking, labor trafficking, fraud and money laundering.

Court documents detail that the drug trafficking organization brought large quantities of fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamine, oxycodone, alprazolam and marijuana into Columbus. These drugs were sold or used to coerce individuals into sexual activity for some members of the drug ring and their profit.

It is alleged that Saultz began distributing heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine from his residences on Vida Place and South Hague Street in Columbus as early as 2008. The drug trafficking organization sold drugs out of more than 20 Columbus residences to customers and distributed larger amounts to regional drug traffickers who then trafficked those narcotics to places such as West Virginia and the Northern District of Ohio. Most of the alleged drug dealing took place within 1000 feet of Burroughs Elementary School in Columbus.

The defendants who pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court before U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr., on March 13 through today include:

Bourdo admitted to distributing fentanyl and cocaine base that resulted in death, conspiring to commit sex trafficking, and conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances within 1,000 feet of an elementary school. Bourdo’s plea agreement includes a recommended sentence of 20 to 25 years in prison.

According to Bourdo’s plea agreement, on Oct. 14, 2021, an individual was found deceased in an alley between Bourdo’s primary residence and a drug distribution house. The woman was found with a needle in her hand and another needle in her pocket and had been dead for approximately 18 hours.

Further investigation revealed that, on Oct. 10, 2021, the woman had overdosed on crack cocaine and fentanyl at one of the organization’s drug houses that Bourdo supplied on North Warren. Witnesses on site immediately placed the woman in a bathtub and soaked her in cold water. The witnesses provided multiple rounds of Narcan, CPR and chest compressions, eventually resuscitating her. The woman left and, over the next 48 hours, met up with Bourdo on more than one occasion to get and use more drugs.

Video surveillance of the alley shows Bourdo walking to the deceased woman’s body just moments before police personnel arrived to attempt (unsuccessfully) to obtain her phone to prevent further investigation into her death.

As part of his plea, Bourdo admitted to coercing adult drug-addicted females into performing commercial sex acts by using violence as well as providing and then withholding or threatening to withhold narcotics and lodging.

Coconspirators used residences on Racine, South Eureka, South Ogden and North Ogden avenues, Vida Place and Chestershire Road for the drug-addicted females to reside in. Various women engaged in a cycle where they would be allowed to stay at one of the residences, receive a “get well” amount of drugs, go work the street and have sex for money in order to pay the debt from the small hit of drugs, and then be allowed to remain at the house. Some of the drug-addicted women brought in hundreds of dollars per day for the organization.

Bourdo entered his guilty plea before the court on March 13.

Priscilla Washington, drug ringleader Cordell Washington’s mother, was associated with the narcotics conspiracy for a number of years. She pleaded guilty today to using a facility in interstate commerce in aid of racketeering, a federal crime punishable by up to five years in prison. Priscilla Washington often communicated with coconspirators via phone or internet, participating in the group’s illicit conduct, and allowed her home – which her son purchased for her in 2017 – to be a safe house for the lead defendants. When investigators searched Priscilla Washington’s home on Smith Road, they discovered 32 firearms, more than $143,000 in cash and bulk amounts of fentanyl and cocaine.

Burton pleaded guilty on March 13 to conspiring to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine within 1,000 feet of an elementary school (five to 80 years in prison) and illegally possessing a firearm as a previously convicted felon (up to 15 years in prison).

Burton became a source of supply for the conspiracy in 2021. He would provide bulk amounts of cocaine to the drug trafficking organization on a routine basis.

Gabriel Smith pleaded guilty today to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine and alprazolam within 1,000 feet of an elementary school (five to 80 years in prison). Smith trafficked drugs on behalf of the organization, including in Morgantown, West Virginia. In addition, he was the group’s main source of supply for Perc30 pills.

Williams pleaded guilty on March 14 to conspiring to distribute controlled substances within 1,000 feet of an elementary school (one to 40 years in prison) and conspiring to launder money (up to 20 years in prison). Williams admitted to purchasing illegal narcotics on a daily basis. She participated in transporting drugs on behalf of the organization and collected rent checks from the defendants’ purported rental homes. Williams would collect the “rent” in cash each month and obtain cashier checks or money orders for the organization.

As part of this case, local, state, and federal law enforcement officers have executed more than 20 search warrants at various locations throughout Central Ohio and seized more than $1.7 million in alleged drug proceeds. For example, while executing a search warrant at Car-Go storage units, law enforcement officials discovered approximately one million in bulk United States currency. Searches of additional residences yielded 47 firearms, diamonds, Rolex watches and additional bulk amounts of cash.

As of today, 17 of the 23 defendants have pleaded guilty. One defendant, Carmella Brooks, has been sentenced and received a term of imprisonment of five years.

U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker commended the investigation coordinated by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force, which includes Columbus Division of Police Chief Elaine Bryant; Shawn Gibson, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations; and Orville O. Greene, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Other agencies that have assisted the task force with the investigation include the Franklin County Sheriff's Office, HIDTA Task Force, IRS-Criminal Investigation, FBI, Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations (BCI), Ohio National Guard Counter Drug Task Force, Pickerington Police Department, New Albany Police Department, and the Fairfield County Sheriff's Office SWAT Team.

Assistant United States Attorneys Timothy Prichard and Emily Czerniejewski are representing the United States in this case.

This investigation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. More information about OCDETF can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

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