An Ohio Mom has copped a plea in a multi-state meth ring case. If you look at Charlee Ann Blankenship’s public Facebook page, she looks like a typical proud mother. There’s a spicy shot where she’s flipping off the camera but most of the pictures show her with her family.
However, police say she was part of a drug ring that transported meth between Columbus and West Virginia. She pleaded guilty to those charges in U.S. District Court today. She could be spending the rest of her life in jail.
Drug Ring
Blankenship, 32, is one of six defendants charged in the drug ring. Columbus Police first learned of the drug ring when law enforcement in West Virginia informed them that large amounts of methamphetamine were being transported from Columbus to be distributed in West Virginia.
The people in on the ring with Blankenship were named Joseph Brian Howard, Timothy D. Copley, Samantha Howard, Darin T. Copeland, and Marvin C. Bozeman, II.
Managing Meth Money
She’s a tiny woman, standing just 5’2″ according to booking records at the Franklin County Jail. But she played a big part in this drug ring.
- Blankenship admitted in court that she took care of Howard’s drug transactions while he was in jail. Though Howard kept track of both the amount of drugs and the amount of cash and monitored its distribution with her help.
- Police, who were listening in on jail calls, also heard him brief Blankenship on who owed money that she needed to collect for past drug transactions.
- In a June 14, 2019 jail call, Howard told Blankenship that Blankenship “did almost 10 yesterday” meaning $10,000 in drug sales.
- She didn’t limit her activities to West Virginia and Ohio. Blankenship also took charge of the transportation of 9 to 10-pound packages of methamphetamine from Las Vegas to Columbus for the group to distribute.
- Unfortunately for Blankenship one of the packages got lost in the mail. Howard told Blankenship in a jail call he got the feeling that “I just lost $42,000.”
When officers served a search warrant at Blankenship’s home, they found quantities of heroin, crack, and fentanyl. Plus there was a pink 9mm handgun.
Blankenship is facing between 10 years to life in prison for the charge. The sentence will be determined by the Court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines