Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ronald Allen Meadows, 46, of Chillicothe, Ohio was sentenced to 120 months in prison for illegally possessing firearms, including machine guns, and dealing heroin from his house.
 
Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Trevor Velinor, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Ross County Sheriff George W. Lavender and the U.S. 23 Pipeline Major Crimes Task Force announced the sentence handed down today by Chief U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr.
 
Undercover task force officers bought drugs at Meadows’ Wilson Run Road house in 2015 after receiving complaints about drug trafficking taking place there. Agents executed two search warrants at Meadows’ home in 2016, seized 40 firearms including two machine guns, and almost 90 grams of heroin. ATF agents and task force officers arrested Meadows in August 2016 following a grand jury indictment.
 
Meadows pleaded guilty on March 16, 2017 to three counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, two counts of possession of a machine gun and one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin.
“There’s one less heroin dealer on the streets in Ross County today because people came forward and worked with law enforcement,” U.S. Attorney Glassman said. “The machine guns the agents seized also show that drugs and violence continue to be a deadly duo.” Glassman also commended the investigation by the U.S. 23 Pipeline Major Crimes Task Force and the ATF. Glassman also commended Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy D. Prichard who represented the United States in this case.