Source to be ID'd if trial called
A Butler County judge will reveal the identity of a confidential informant if and when a trial is called for an Ohio man accused in March of leading a cocaine distribution operation.
Marshall A. Grimes, 39, faces 17 charges of felony drug trafficking. State and county narcotics officers allege he is the purported ringleader of the distribution operation busted this spring. On Wednesday, Judge Timothy McCune granted Grimes' request that the confidential informant used in the case will be identified if the case goes to trail. The defense sought the information to better prepare its case. Grimes also has a new lawyer, Robert Marion, after the previous lawyer withdrew his representation over a conflict of interest.
Charges against the Columbus man stem from an investigation started in May 2018 into the sale of crack cocaine and other drugs at two different apartments in the same building on South Main Street in Butler, according to authorities.
The state Office of the Attorney General's Bureau of Narcotics and the Butler County Drug Task Force conducted the investigation targeting Grimes and four other defendants, all of whom remain in jail on six-figure bails.
The investigation, according to an affidavit filed by Douglas Brink, a state narcotics agent, and John Johnson, assistant coordinator of the county's drug task force, identified Grimes' “cocaine distribution organization.”
Investigators said at least seven controlled drug buys using a police informant were conducted last year between June and November among the different defendants.
Grimes faces a second case from Dec. 11 when Butler police received a call that a man believed to be Grimes pulled a gun on his girlfriend. Police found Grimes at one of the South Main Street apartments identified in the original investigation. They allegedly found about 3.6 ounces of suspected powder cocaine and 3.2 ounces of suspected crack cocaine. The estimated street value of the seized drugs was $10,000.
In a drawstring bag, officers said they also discovered a .380-caliber pistol and $12,806 in currency.
