Ohio Courts Sentence Leaders in Large-Scale Drug, Human Trafficking Rings

Cordell Washington, a major drug and human trafficking leader in Columbus, was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for operating a criminal enterprise involving drug distribution, sex trafficking, labor trafficking, gun crimes, and money laundering from 2008 to 2022. His operations included selling large quantities of fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and other narcotics, sometimes near a Columbus elementary school, and coercing individuals into sexual activity for profit. Co-defendant Patrick Saultz received a similar 30-year sentence earlier in 2025, with 18 of 23 defendants in the case already sentenced. Separately, James Dukes-Johnson and Michael Davis were sentenced to life in prison for their roles in a Columbus human trafficking ring that forced women into prostitution and was linked to a fatal shooting in 2023. In Athens County, Shawn Dwayne Agee Jr. was convicted of leading a large-scale drug trafficking operation distributing fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine, and other drugs from Columbus, with law enforcement seizing drugs, firearms, and paraphernalia during investigations; his sentencing is scheduled for July 2025. These prosecutions reflect coordinated multi-agency efforts to dismantle significant drug and human trafficking networks impacting Ohio communities.