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Big Oak: 2 charges, probation terminated

LISBON — Susan Pritt, one of the Operation Big Oak defendants, pleaded guilty to two drug-related counts during a hearing before Common Pleas Court Judge Megan Bickerton on Tuesday morning.

Pritt, 35, Avondale Street, East Liverpool, was charged with aggravated trafficking in drugs, a fourth-degree felony, and trafficking in cocaine, a fifth-degree felony.

During the plea hearing, Special Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Margaret Tomaro of the Ohio Attorney General’s office said she will ask for the sentence to run concurrently with the time Pritt already has been sentenced to in other cases. Pritt currently has two other pending cases in Common Pleas Court, both drug-related possession of drugs cases. Both of those cases are scheduled for a jury trial on Sept. 3.

Her sentencing in this case is scheduled for Nov. 18 and her defense attorney Kelly Linger requested an evaluation to see if Pritt would be a good candidate for the Eastern Ohio Corrections Center, which includes drug-treatment programming.

The charges Pritt pleaded guilty to were for distributing .5 grams of fentanyl and .75 grams of cocaine. She was one of about 100 people charged in the Operation Big Oak case, which included about 100 suspects charged in connection to their involvement in a drug-ring which distributed 1.4 million doses of drugs including fentanyl, carfentanil and crack cocaine in Columbiana County.

Another Operation Big Oak defendant, Allen W. Dean, 31, Broadway Avenue, Wellsville, stipulated to violating the terms of his community control and his probation was dishonorably terminated.

He initially had been placed on a 4-year intervention treatment plan after pleading guilty a year ago to 14 counts of aggravated possession of drugs and five counts of possession of cocaine. Dean has now been sentenced to 360 days in prison with credit for 12 days already served.

newsroom@reviewonline.com

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