CLOSER LOOK: Prisoner indicted in meth smuggling ring shot Dayton officer in ‘95

Mario Evans, 40, faces federal indictment in an alleged meth smuggling ring. Evans previously had been convicted in the shooting of a Dayton police officer.

Mario Evans, 40, faces federal indictment in an alleged meth smuggling ring. Evans previously had been convicted in the shooting of a Dayton police officer.

A 40-year-old Ohio prisoner indicted in an alleged methamphetamine smuggling ring shot a Dayton police officer in 1995, according to the Dayton Daily News archives.

Mario Evans, 40, formerly of Dayton, was indicted Sept. 28 alongside six other men, said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Benjamin Glassman. The indictment was made public last week.

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The indictment alleges the men, including a corrections officer, attempted to deliver methamphetamine to the Chillicothe Correctional Institute for distribution within the state prison.

Evans was incarcerated in 1995 after an aggravated robbery, felonious assault, theft and weapons under disability conviction, according to Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction records.

The newspaper archives show Evans, then 18, pleaded guilty to the charges in connection with shooting a Dayton police officer on Jan. 29, 1995. According to the archives, the police officer was shot in the leg and left side of his chest after trying to stop Evans, who was driving a stolen car.

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Evans initially faced charges of attempted aggravated murder, felonious assault on a police officer, two counts of grand theft auto and possession of criminal tools, according to the newspaper archives.

At the time, Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. said the settlement of the case sent a message that “if you shoot a police officer in Montgomery County, you’re going to spend the best part of your life in prison.”

Judge Patrick J. Foley ordered the maximum sentence for Evans’ felonious assault charge, according to the newspaper archives.

“An attack on a police officer is a very vicious attack. It attacks the very fabric of our community,” Foley said at the time.

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“He knew he was in trouble. He must’ve been scared, but still I don’t know what could possess him to try to turn around and kill someone,” his mother told the newspaper. “I’m just thankful to God that the officer did not die.”

After her son’s court appearance, his mother told the newspaper her son had served time in at least two juvenile facilities, adding, “I couldn’t control this child. … If the juvenile system would’ve been a little tougher, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.”

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