Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Six of 19 defendants to be sentenced in a gang-related racketeering and murder case received their sentences this week in U.S. District Court.

 

Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Angela L. Byers, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Timothy J. Plancon, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Trevor Velinor, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien and Columbus Police Chief Kim Jacobs announced the sentences handed down by U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley.

 

Johnathan Holt, 24, of Columbus, was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole, plus an additional 25 years. He was convicted on all counts by a United States District Court jury following trial in December 2016.

 

Holt was the final of 20 individuals who were indicted in October 2014 in a racketeering case, with charges that include murders, attempted murders, drug trafficking, weapons offenses, extortion and robbery. Of the 20 total defendants, five others were convicted at trial, 13 pleaded guilty and one has died.

 

Holt’s specific charges include murder in aid of racketeering and murder through the use of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.

 

“Johnathan Holt earned every minute of the life sentence that he received today,” U.S. Attorney Glassman said. “For anyone starting down the road that Holt and his co-defendants traveled, I hope these sentences will make them think twice and take another path.”

 

The five other defendants sentenced this week all pleaded guilty to racketeering and/or murder charges. They include:

• Ismael Bowers – sentenced to 14 years.
• Tommy Coates – sentenced to 7 years.
• Joseph Hill – sentenced to 18 years.
• Freddie Johnson – sentenced to 10 years.
• Chris Warton – sentenced to 18 years.

 

Robert Wilson and Troy Patterson are scheduled to be sentenced tomorrow. Wilson pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, and Patterson pleaded guilty to murder in aid of racketeering. 

 

U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the two-year investigation by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, DEA, ATF, Columbus Police, Franklin County Sheriff Zach Scott’s Office, Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien’s Office, Fairfield County Prosecutor Gregg Marx, Licking County Prosecutor Kenneth Oswalt, Muskingum County Prosecutor D. Michael Haddox, Ross County Prosecutor Matthew S. Schmidt, law enforcement leaders from those counties, and officials of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorneys David DeVillers, Kevin Kelley and Brian Martinez and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jimmy Lowe with Franklin County Prosecutor O’Brien’s Office, who are representing the United States in this and the related cases.