Leader Of Ohio Heroin Ring Sentenced To 40 Years In Prison

CLEVELAND — The accused leader of an Ohio drug ring has been sentenced to 40 years in prison, the Department of Justice announced this week. Joseph Gray pleaded guilty to distributing heroin, fentanyl and other narcotics. Gray celebrated the "casket quality" of his heroin, which he sold to customers, prosecutors said.

“This defendant dealt death for profit and celebrated the overdose of people suffering from addiction,” said U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman. “Every day of this four decade sentence was well earned by Joseph Gray and this term of imprisonment sends a powerful message to anyone selling heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine: these Ohio neighborhoods belong to us, not you.”

According to prosecutors, Gray led a drug ring that operated in Cleveland and suburbs east of the city, like Euclid. The group was known to work as far east as Lake County.

Members of the drug ring sold heroin, fentanyl, crack cocaine and heroin analogues, according to the indictment.

The drug ring used a single "customer phone" line that was available to all customers. Gray owned the phone line but allowed his partners to use it, prosecutors said. With the phone passing from dealer to dealer, customers could call the line at any time on any day.

Prosecutors believe Gray's drug ring served nearly a hundred customers a day. In a phone call recorded by law enforcement, Gray complained about how hard he worked.

"I sell f**king drugs and take people to Home Depot and get this and that,” he explained, “I interact with 100 people a day.”

The drug ring was specifically trying to bring in more heroin, with Gray telling other dealers that their mixture of heroin and fentanyl was selling very fast. He said he had to buy it in 100 gram quantities.

Gray also wanted heroin mixtures that were potent enough to kill customers. He bragged to one of his dealers that a new batch of heroin was "casket quality" and caused a customer to overdose.

Prosecutors said Gray sold heroin to a man who overdosed and died in Willowick in June 2018.

When Gray was taken into custody in early January 2019, he told his other dealers to buy an iPhone and port the customer phone's number and contacts, so drug deals could continue, the indictment said.

Gray pleaded guilty to 22 charges against him, including distributing controlled substances, possessing a firearm as a felon, intent to distribute controlled substances and more. Judge John Adams sentenced Gray to 480 months of incarceration, followed by a decade of supervised release. Prosecutors said he had 21 co-defendants. Twenty of them have pleaded guilty and one suspect is on the run from law enforcement.

“The DEA and its local, state and federal partners are committed to removing dangerous substances, and those who seek to profit from their distribution, from our communities,” said DEA Special Agent Keith Martin. “Mr. Gray will now have a considerable amount of time in prison to think about his unlawful behavior and his role in destroying the lives of countless Ohioans.”