Local couple ‘in deep with the cartel’ held on fentanyl charges

They face 10 years to life in prison and a $10 million fine.

A Harrison Twp. couple will be detained without bond while a charge of trafficking a massive amount of fentanyl is resolved in Dayton’s U.S. District Court.

When he was apprehended Nov. 28, Thomas Mead allegedly told law enforcement: “There’s 20 kilos in the basement, and we are in deep with the cartel.”

Thomas Mead, 44, and his wife, 34-year-old Renae Mead, both face a charge of possession with intent to distribute 400 or more grams of fentanyl. Both were ordered on Dec. 4 by a magistrate judge to remain in jail while their case proceeds.

The maximum penalties for a person convicted of that charge are 10 years to life in prison and a $10 million fine, according to the court docket.

Renae Mead waived her right to a preliminary hearing on Thursday and will have her case turned over to a grand jury.

A United States marshal said Thomas Mead was wanted on a felony probation violation from a 1993 case and was believed to be at a home on Gipsy Avenue in Harrison Twp, according to a complaint and affidavit written by a task force officer with Homeland Security Investigations.

Themarshal said people turned off lights and tried to hide when law enforcement knocked at the door. Officers later gained entry and served arrest warrants to both defendants.

Duringaprotective sweep, task force officer Josh Walters wrote, agents “observed in plain view sev-