James McCarty, 58, was freed from the Warren County Jail after posting a $25,000 cash bond.
“He’s accused of trafficking cocaine in the Lebanon area, including being a source of some of the drugs that were located on Summit Street in October,” Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell said via text message on Thursday.
A search warrant returned Wednesday alleges marijuana, cocaine residue and psychedelic mushrooms were seized from McCarty’s home on Oct. 31.
The affidavit attached to the warrant also alleged McCarty was arrested on Friday, July 14, during a traffic stop by Lebanon police in possession of two cell phones seized for the investigation.
McCarty had been held without bond since Friday on charges of trafficking in cocaine, aggravated possession of drugs, possession of marijuana and possession of criminal tools.
Conspiracy and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity charges alleged in the search warrant were not filed in the case.
McCarty was arraigned Wednesday in Warren County Common Pleas Court.
Fornshell said the charges were the result of continued investigation of drugs found last October from 175 Summit St. in Lebanon.
This case began when Edward Mithelavage Jr. was stopped in traffic in Lebanon on Oct. 31 and a large meth lab was found at his Summit Street home.
Fornshell described the meth lab cleanup operation as one of the largest ever discovered by local investigators. Federal authorities were called in to help.
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Mithelavage was scheduled for a court hearing on Thursday on 13 felony charges, including for having 18 weapons - two allegedly stolen - under disability.
He remained free following the hearing, pending another set for September 25.
The indictment issued Friday in McCarty’s case alleges that on Oct. 29, $3,000 was seized from him when he sold “or offered to sell” between 27 and 100 grams of cocaine.
On Oct. 31, McCarty is alleged to have possessed psilocyn, a psychedelic substance, marijuana and criminal tools, according to the indictment.
“Why it’s taken them until July to indict, that’s the big question,” his lawyer Martin Hubbell said Wednesday.
In 2009, McCarty was among 23 people charged with drug trafficking in a four-county sweep, culminating a six-month investigation by the Warren County Drug Task Force.
He was sentenced to 60 days in jail, three years on probation and a $1,000 fine.
Ten years earlier, McCarty was sentenced to five years in federal prison following a 1998 drug bust resulting in a half dozen arrests.
The drug ring was accused of transporting and selling cocaine and marijuana between 1993 and 1998.
This case was developed from a traffic stop in Nebraska. Drugs were also smuggled in from Florida and California.
McCarty served as a key witness in the case resulting in a 30-year sentence and $25,000 fine for Randall Neuhausser, a co-defendant in the case, in 1999.
McCarty was released from federal prison on Nov. 1, 2002, Neuhausser on March 18, 2016, according to online federal prison records.
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