3 Ohio drug convicts denied new trials sought over federal agent’s role in botched sting

No new trials for 3 Ohio men in botched drug sting

CLEVELAND — A federal judge has refused to grant new trials to three Ohio drug dealers whose cases were handled by a drug agent who was acquitted of charges that he framed more than a dozen suspects in a botched raid.

U.S. District Judge James Gwin ruled Wednesday that, while he did not approve of the way the government handled their cases, the defendants failed to show prejudice in their original trials.

Carl Henderson, Gerald Taylor and Maurion Lewis were each sentenced to more than 10 years in prison. They were arrested after a 2005 federal drug raid in Mansfield in central Ohio handled by Drug Enforcement Agent Lee Lucas.

Lucas was accused of using an informant to make controlled drug buys, then putting false information in his reports about the transactions.