Ohio man found guilty of providing drugs in Clearfield | News, Sports, Jobs

CLEARFIELD – An Ohio man accused of providing large amounts of drugs for distribution in Clearfield County was found guilty on all charges after a three-day trial on Wednesday.

A jury convicted James Thomas, 52, of Akron, Ohio, on 11 counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and one count each of conspiracy to possession with intent to deliver, corrupt organizations, conspiracy to corrupt organizations and criminal use of a communication facility.

Thomas was the source for Don Mullins of Houtzdale until he died from a drug overdose in May 2018 and then for his girlfriend, Sondra McQuillen, 56, according to testimony.

In a press conference in January 2019, Attorney General Josh Shapiro said the street value of the drugs in this case — which included methamphetamine, cocaine and other drugs — was estimated to be $1.5 million.

When he testified in his own defense Wednesday, Thomas said Mullins was a friend and claimed he was doing him a favor by providing him drugs for his girlfriend. Mullins couldn’t use drugs because he was on parole at that time.

He said he only sold drugs to him and then McQuillen after Mullins died.

“I was doing it as a favor more than anything,” Thomas testified.

He also claimed the drugs found at his home had been left there in a bag that Mullins asked him to keep safe.

The investigation began in September 2017, after several controlled purchases of meth from a Clearfield couple, Jason Lynn, 40, and Joyce Lee Merritts, 36, according to grand jury testimony.

During Thomas’s trial, testimony revealed Mullins and/or McQuillen reportedly traveled to Ohio about 26 times in 2018.

On July 26, 2018, law enforcement officers followed McQuillen and another individual to Akron where she met with Thomas. She purchased meth and other drugs for $3,800, according to the report.

She was followed back to Clearfield County where investigators executed a search warrant on her vehicle.

Officers reportedly found one-third of a pound of methamphetamine, crack cocaine, marijuana and pills suspected to be prescription medications in the vehicle.

Search warrants were also executed at Thomas’s residence the same day. It uncovered 4 ounces of meth, almost 200 grams of cocaine/crack and marijuana.

In the barber shop where he worked, police found 2 pounds of meth, over 4 ounces of cocaine and almost 3 pounds of marijuana, according to previous reports.

The grand jury learned that Thomas admitted he met with McQuillen on the day she was stopped by police, through prison telephone calls. He further admitted that he should have stopped “doing things” with McQuillen after Mullens died.

In February 2019, Jason Merritts pleaded guilty to selling methamphetamine at their apartment in Lawrence Township.

For felony charges of possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine, criminal conspiracy, criminal use of a communication facility, endangering the welfare of children and corrupt organizations, Judge Paul Cherry sentenced him to 3.5 to seven years in state prison with an additional 10 years’ probation.

In July 2019, his wife, Joyce Merritts, 36, was placed in the state’s intermediate punishment program for similar drug offenses.

McQuillen, who testified at Thomas’s trial, is scheduled to be sentenced next week.

Thomas will be scheduled for sentencing within 60 days.

He is already serving a federal sentence on drug and firearm charges totaling 15 years, according to testimony at the trial.