Columbus man charged with forcing addicts into prostitution
Federal prosecutors have added sex trafficking to the growing criminal case against a Columbus man who is already charged with drug trafficking, forcing addicts into prostitution and committing pandemic-related unemployment fraud, among other charges.
Ricco Lamonte Maye, 39, of the Northeast Side, has been in federal custody in a Franklin County jail for almost a year on a variety of charges pending in federal court. A 10-count superseding indictment unsealed in March included allegations of drug trafficking and a scheme to illegally obtain unemployment benefits as a result of COVID-19.
On Monday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio announced additional charges, including a newly unsealed indictment with three additional counts and a half a dozen additional defendants. The indictment includes allegations of forced prostitution of women and Maye
making threatening calls from jail o coconspirators and potential witnesses in an attempt to upend the case against him.
“We take witness-tampering charges very seriously and will continue to follow any leads in that regard...,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather A. Hill told The Dispatch. “Obviously, sex trafficking is a very serious charge that our office will always be on the look out for.”
Ten people have now been indicted in the case, with Maye allegedly acting as the “head of a loose organization of individuals engaged in various types of criminal activity, including drug trafficking, sex trafficking and mail and wire fraud,” according to federal court documents.
“Maye at times utilized threats, violence and manipulation of drug dependencies to ensure the individuals continued to carry out his criminal schemes,” records state.
The latest indictment against Maye includes four counts each of distribution of a controlled substance and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, and one count each of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, sex trafficking by force, wire and mail fraud, obstruction of enforcement, and witness tampering.
Others named in the indictment unsealed Monday included:
• Jacob M. Capan, 28, of Pickerington, who is charged with one count each of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, and sex trafficking by force.
• Airrika N. Anthony, 33, of the Northeast Side, one count each of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, and two counts of possession with intent to distribute controlled substance.
• Nicole L. Groves, 32, of the Northeast Side, one count each of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute controlled substance, and conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud.
• Kevin E. Pearson, 58, of the East Side, one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and two counts of possession with intent to distribute controlled substance.
• Jasmine R. Weather, 23, of the South Side, one count each of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute controlled substance, and witness tampering.
• Danielle C. Ferguson, 31, of the East Side, one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud.
• Vincent N. Morrow, 39, of the Linden area, one count each of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, and witness tampering.
• Ashleigh A. Davis, 38, from Chillicothe, one count of witness tampering.
• Victor Blake, 60, of the North Side, one count of witness tampering.
Maye, Anthony and Groves were included in a first superseding indictment unsealed in March that included unemployment-related fraud allegations. According to court documents, they filed for and received more than $30,000 in federal pandemic unemployment assistance in Ohio and Michigan, falsely claiming they were out of work because of COVID-19.
The latest indictment alleges the illegal activities began in at least 2018, with Maye obtaining supplies of drugs from inside and outside of Ohio and providing cocaine, fentanyl and other drugs to individuals in exchange for those individuals committing criminal acts under his direction.
“Maye took numerous precautions to shield himself from law enforcement, including using others, primarily addicts themselves, to conduct actual sales of narcotics and limiting the addicts’ access to his larger quantities of narcotics, his drug suppliers and his drug proceeds,” according to court documents.
The documents describe men and women involved in drug and sex trafficking. In some cases, Maye provided drugs to women initially for free, then made arrangements for the them to engage in prostitution for money to purchase more.
Prosecutors also allege that Maye, after his arrest, attempted to obstruct the investigation into his case by communicating with co-conspirators from jail and either directly threatening or ordering others to “cause physical harm to potential witnesses” to prevent their testimony, according to documents.
“Since the time of his November arrest, Maye, either directly or through individuals known and unknown to the grand jury, has regularly posted videos, images and comments regarding ‘snitches’ on his publicly accessible Facebook page,” according to documents.
In one instance, Maye instructed a codefendant “to mix rat poison into fentanyl” to give to another co-defendant in an attempt to cause the latter physical harm, according to documents.
mkovac@dispatch.com
“Maye took numerous precautions to shield himself from law enforcement, including using others, primarily addicts themselves, to conduct actual sales of narcotics and limiting the addicts’ access to his larger quantities of narcotics, his drug suppliers and his drug proceeds.” Court documents