FBI Special Agent Andrew Eilerman, a coordinator with the federal Northwest Ohio Safe Streets Task Force, testified Wednesday in the trial of Travon Thomas about details surrounding the investigation that ultimately led to Thomas’ arrest on drug trafficking charges.
J Swygart | The Lima News
LIMA — Jurors in the trial of Travon Thomas, the Lima man charged with operating a large-scale drug trafficking ring in Allen County, were sent home early Wednesday with the warning that a full day of testimony awaits them upon their return.
The decision to halt testimony on the trial’s third day was the result of the state of Ohio’s case proceeding more quickly than anticipated. Additional witnesses were not scheduled to appear until Thursday.
Wednesday’s proceedings featured testimony from two forensic scientists from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, who analyzed controlled substances which proved to contain heroin and cocaine, as well as from a string of law enforcement and task force officers who orchestrated controlled drug transactions said to have been directly linked to Thomas in the spring of 2021.
Current and former members of the West Central Ohio Crime Task Force and the federal Northwest Ohio Safe Streets Task Force testified that multiple drug purchases were conducted using a confidential informant. In each case Thomas was the contact person for the transactions, according to testimony. Investigators said Thomas’ voice can be heard on conversations captured by a recording device worn by the informant during several of the drug buys. Other officers testified to the authenticity of photos of Thomas taken by task force members immediately following the drug transactions.
Key witness cross-examined
Returning to the witness stand Wednesday morning was Sidney Jackson, one of the state’s principal witnesses. Jackson testified the previous day that she had worked with Thomas by “running drugs” for him as part of his drug trafficking operation.
Thomas is charged with 10 felony counts related to his alleged sale and distribution of fentanyl, cocaine and heroin in Allen County in April of 2021. His arrest came as the result of a lengthy investigation by federal, state and local law enforcement.
Jackson told jurors she had traveled to Columbus on April 13, 2021, to assist in the repair of a pill press and to retrieve fentanyl pills and bring them back to Allen County. The woman said Thomas had agreed to pay her $10,000 for that particular trip. Payment was never made, however, after Jackson was arrested upon her return to Lima that same evening.
Under cross-examination Wednesday by attorney Steve Chamberlain of the Allen County Public Defenders Office, Jackson admitted she currently faces nine first-degree felony charges related to the trafficking of drugs and faces the possibility of a “substantial” amount of time in prison if convicted. The woman nonetheless said she agreed to testify against Thomas and received no “deals or promises” in exchange for her testimony.
Andrew Eilerman, a special agent with the FBI and coordinator of the Northwest Ohio Safe Streets task force who took part in an interview with Jackson following her arrest, told jurors on Wednesday that Jackson was afforded no special consideration for testifying in the case.
Thomas is charged with engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, a felony of the first degree, in addition to first-degree felony charges of aggravated funding of drug trafficking; three counts of trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound; two counts of trafficking in cocaine; and two counts of trafficking in heroin.
Testimony in the trial will resume Thursday.
