The charges stem from criminal activity in southern Ohio that occurred from 2003 to 2018 and involved six victims. She said she also had a run-in with the Malonesunder Mearans watch. I didnt want to do that lightly. Mearan (center) has repeatedly denied any allegation that he was involved in prostitution or sex trafficking. Marshall retired suddenly in 2018 after a 16-year career as a common pleas court judge as well as running the Scioto County Drug Court through his courtroom. Mills wound up having a child with Artressias brother, making the two women family. NONE OF IT IS TRUE:' Portsmouth attorney under state investigation speaks out, According to the affidavit, Mearan was connected to more than two dozen women who worked for him as prostitutes, including one who is seven-years missing and another found dead of multiple traumas.. Michael Mearan, attorney, arrested on sex trafficking charges in Portsmouth, Ohio. The DEA said it had handed any notes on Mearan over to the FBI, and it is not clear what happened to any follow-ups from authorities. The Enquirer interviewed10 women who separately shared accounts of working for Mearan as a prostitute at various times over the last two decades. Mike is a state-certified firearms instructor/firearms safety officer in Ohio for law enforcement officers and private security personnel, as well as being a factory-trained Glock Advanced Pistol Armorer. Ten women previously told The Enquirer they had worked as prostitutes for Mearan, with several of the women saying they had traveled to numerous states to have sex at his behest over the last two decades. They have 10 years of my emails and messages and pictures. Artressia said she remembers Phil Malone and Mills trying to convince her to move to Chicago. The indictment says Michael Mearan, 74, engaged in sex trafficking from 2003-2018, with six victims being involved. Mearan also has been reported as being involved in purchasing drugs, including Oxycodone and heroin, in order to provide them to his prostitutes and clients. He is 14 now and is being raised by his grandparents (Megan Lancasters mother and father). Still, rumors about Mearan, sex trafficking and local corruption long have been circulating for years in Portsmouth. Columbus, OH 43215-3431 Phone: 614-387-9000 Fax: 614-387-9419 Website Business Hours: 8AM-5PM Note: This office does not provide access to county court records. Kellico Inc. Its all false., (Re-Elect Judge T. William Marshall Facebook page), Severe thunderstorm produces hail, high winds in the Tri-State, 17-year-old seriously hurt in Northside shooting, rumors of sex trafficking in the southern Ohio city. Lewiston-Michael E. Moran Sr. age 84 of Lewiston died Tuesday July 3, 2007 at Central Maine Medical Center. Mearan has pleaded not guilty to the charges and was released from jail on bond. More women have come forward, accusing men in Portsmouth, Ohio, of using their position of power, to take nude photos and sex traffic them. "We would be acquaintances in the fact of being active in the local criminal justice system for many years. Hren said the incident shows what a big goodol boy network existed in Portsmouth. Mills is one of four women to accuse Malone or his brother,Mark Malone,of inappropriate sexual conduct or exchangingsexual favors for light treatment from the Portsmouth City Probation Department, where they both worked. Michael C Wilson Attorney On Friday, everything changed. Police detectives began looking into Mearan in late 2018, about the same time our news partners at the Cincinnati Enquirer began reporting on rumors of sex trafficking in the southern Ohio city. Court records show a jury trial was scheduled to begin in Mearan's case on Jan. 18. 'I trusted him': More women come forward about sex trafficking. "As to a police captain being one of her contact numbers, the family has never provided anything to me that would support that claim. They know Im not that kind of person.". Its driving me crazy. Mills became pregnant in 2003 from an unknown customer and had the baby girl in 2004. ", Sex trafficking: Trapped and trafficked, Portsmouth's dark secret. 2021 Scioto County Daily News. He said he never engaged in a sex ring, period and said he was not aware of related to Portsmouth. She just disappeared. They said no, they were searching. Growing up in a dangerous life. He wasarrested and charged in October 2020and wasawaiting trial in Scioto County at the time of his death. Yost told The Enquirer a that Scioto County grand jury indicted Mearan on all the charges they were presented with Friday morning, and an arrest warrant was secured afterward. FOX19 NOW previously reported Mearan was under state investigated for actions linked to prostitution, sex trafficking and drugs, according to a 2015 affidavit filed under seal with the Southern District of Ohio. Im so blessed. Hren said she performed oral sex on him. Artressia said she was able to stay away from him for years after she got out of prison,but wound up providing him sex for money after she relapsed in 2018. It indicated they were searching for telephone records, call history, all communications, credit cards and debit cards regarding grooming, sexual activity, pandering for sexual activity, travel arrangements, he said. Find your friends on Facebook. We do not have any additional information to share about this investigation, BCI spokesman Steve Irwin wrote in an email to FOX19 NOW. Whats more, Mearan has been known to law enforcement in Portsmouth for more than 40 years and has been indirectly tied to multiple prior FBI investigations into human trafficking, extortion, violent gangs and White Slave Trafficking," the court record reads. Defense lawyer and former Portsmouth Councilman Michael Mearan has been accused of running a sex trafficking operation in the southern Ohio city, according to federal court records. Connect With Us. A cause of death has not yet. "He was really, really dirty and nasty the way he would talk," said Lawhon, now 29. In late 2018, the Cincinnati Enquirer investigated long-time rumors of Mearan being involved in the trafficking of women for sexual purposes and talked to women who claimed they were prostituted to officials in return for a number of things, including money and reduced sentences in criminal cases. He did not respond to questions when asked to comment after his recent arraignment. They told their stories to agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. This story is breaking and will be updated. We also wanted to try to confirm what Mearan told us about their conversation and how thorough the police investigation had been. Her son, Rhys, was 7-years-old when his mom left one day and never came back. Drugs, sex trafficking and missing women: Small Ohio town haunted by dark allegations. I hope and pray they dont end up on social media and ruin anybody elses lives, Mills said. His grown daughter, who lives with him, took his five dogs outside. Lancaster, who was 25 when she was last seen, kept names and phone numbers in color-coded notebooks that her sister-in-law, Kadie Lancaster, compiled and showed The Enquirer last year. On Monday, March 30, he received some paperwork back he said he needs for an adoption case hes handling. Ive never had a prostitute in my life, I swear on my mom - and shes still alive - or paid for anybody else to have sex, he said in a phone interview. Neither has expressed any displeasure with the way the case has been handled thus far. We reached out to BCI for the status of the case, if they considered Mearan a suspect or person of interest and/or they had received tips since appealing to the public for information about him. (Page 2) The search warrant, according to what Mearan read to us, also indicates authorities were checking for evidence related to allegedly engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, trafficking persons, promoting enticement or soliciting and patronizing prostitutes; tampering with records and permitting drug abuse. I asked what did she do? He got snappy with me. And so they came in the hotel room, they searched it and they told her you need to get Angie back to wherever you met. He said the warrant informed him the search involved the Ohio Organized Crime Task Force. She said now feels he was using the relationship to get sex in return for favorable treatment for her children, some of whom were in the criminal justice system. Born Dec. 5, 1945, in Pittsburgh, he was the son of Walter R . The 80-page affidavit, filed in August 2015 by DEA Senior Special Agent Keith Leighton, said Mearan had been known to law enforcement in Portsmouth since the 1970s. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group. To journalists with The CincinnatiEnquirer, part of the USA TODAY Network. Kayla Artressia acknowledged asking him to notarize a backdated document so she could take possession of her fiancs body after his death in May. Malone pleaded no contest and served a year of probation, according to those documents. BCI is asking anyone with knowledge of suspicious activity involving Portsmouth attorney Michael Mearan to call 1-855-BCI-OHIO or submit a tip anonymously at https://t.co/uiDJEpUD8lMore details: https://t.co/lwh24h4DDJ pic.twitter.com/2LvOlU28QV. Liz Dufour and James Pilcher, Cincinnati Enquirer. / CBS Pittsburgh. She had a son, age seven, who now lives with his grandmother. Mearan.. They never thought it would happen.. Advertise with Us. https://t.co/5PUCYPgJ1O Lane Ball (@LaneBallWOWKTV) November 27, 2021 People who have a public position, particularly a position in law enforcement, or a lawyer, or an officer of the court it makes it even more wrong.. "ButI still feel like theres more work to do. She told me and her mother that she bought pills off Angie Compton, she walked back in the Ramada and it was just a few minutes later and there was bang bang bang on the door and she looked out and saw the cops. This one elderly man she ripped off for than $50,000. Southern Ohio Sexual Assault Treatment Center, Man Arrested for Impersonating a Police Officer, Shameless Snap Scammers Already on the Prowl. Except for certain online research capabilities, all trial court record access must be done at the local level. They take a picture of you when you are on probation, Hren said. Moran, Michael Michael Moran. She did not work for me. He wasexpected to be arraigned in Scioto County Common Pleas Court on Monday. "I have spoken to Mr. Mearan on more than one occasion in reference to this case and I assure you no one has received any kind of special treatment. Megan Lancaster kept a black notebook with names and phone numbers among pages that have dance for and men who give money, written on them, according to Kadie Lancaster and a copy she provided to us. Devin Moran, Ricky Thornton Jr - Portsmouth Raceway Park - DTWC - Lucas Dirt Series A35I0750. Some of the women said they were even sent as far asNew York, New Jersey, Louisiana and Florida for paid sexual liaisons. Images showed FBI agents and Portsmouth police detectives surrounding defense attorney Michael Mearan's home. Michael Mearan, a former Portsmouth city councilman and lawyer who was facingmultiple felonies related to sex trafficking, died Friday afternoonfollowing health complications, his attorney confirmed. I think its a horrible thing," she said of all the speculation about Mearan. Efforts by The Enquirer to unseal the investigatory file and court records have been unsuccessful to date. Him and Harvey Weinstein. According to a 2019Cincinnati Enquirerreport, Mearan had been rumored of running the sex trafficking ring out of Portsmouth, a small Ohio town just across the Ohio River from Kentucky. Former Portsmouth, Ohio, city council member and attorney Michael Mearan was arrestedtoday onhuman trafficking, racketeering and related charges, officials said. Phil Malone previously agreed to an interview at his home in November 2018 before the other women came forward. She and her husband had used Mearan, whom she referred to as Mike over the years and considered him a very good friend. Heather Hren previously told The Enquirer she worked for Mearan as a prostitute in Portsmouth and across the country in the late 2000s. I trusted Phil Malone. Secondary navigation. She said Mearan had arranged for her to have sex with a Cincinnati doctor for $200 and arranged for aprobation officer to take nude photos of her, among other allegations. In 2020, former Portsmouth city council member and attorney Michael Mearan was arrested on a total of 18 charges spanning human trafficking, racketeering and compelling and promoting prostitution. 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