A three-day, multi-agency, undercover human trafficking sting in Central Ohio has resulted in 104 people being arrested. This sting is just the latest in statewide efforts to combat human trafficking.
Attorney General Dave Yost says 30 police agencies worked together in this sting, an operation called “Fourth and Goal.” Fifty-three of 104 arrests were for felonies, and 26 arrests involved crimes against children.
“Human trafficking is modern day slavery,” Yost said. And Yost says authorities are finding it’s prevalent throughout Ohio. “What we are starting to see here is there is more of this than we thought.”
Yost says similar stings have been conducted in Cleveland and the Mahoning Valley in recent months.
The attorney general released the list of those who were arrested:
- Timothy Coffey, 52, Columbus
- Joshua Love, 27, Columbus
- Jose Montoya, 22, Columbus
- Christian Bryant, 30, Columbus
- Michael Sweeney, 39, Columbus
- Steven Weakley, 20, Grove City
- Austin Kosier,31, Columbus
- John Shimizu, 28, Dublin
- Steven Wilson , 36, Columbus
- Alex Kim, 22, Dublin
- Steven Barcus, 45, Westerville
- Rick Birman, 59, Columbus
- Mark Fitzgerald II, 32, Portsmouth
- Scott Fierro, 38, Marysville
- Daniel Clingman, 38, Pataskala
- Jonas Wernick, 20, Upper Arlington
- David Bond, 48, Columbus
- Neil Bond, 28, Methuen, Mass.
- James Good, 33, Marysville
- Brian Basil, 28, Grove City
- Logan Detty , 21, Chillicothe
- Cesar Lopez, 22, Columbus
- Christian Gibson, 26, Groveport
- Cody Conn, 22, Reynoldsburg
The following individuals were arrested on solicitation charges:
- Javier Justinia, 39, Hilliard
- Adrian Guglielmetti, 54, Westerville
- Miguel Vasquez-Reyes, 20, Independence, La.
- Matthew Savage, 48, Lewis Center
- Vincent Rhoden, 40, Lewis Center
- Kevin Albanese, 50, Powell
- Marc Coughanour, 36, Clarkesville
- Jaya Ponaka, 29, Powell
- Brian Deck, 52, Lewis Center
- Jesus Gonzalez Avila, unknown
- Abshir Omar, unknown
- Gary Jr. Childers, 39, Newark
- Samuel Chitison, 22, Pickerington
- Wesley Howard, 48, Pomeroy
- Jonathan Otavalo, 23, Columbus
- Dominic Hodge, unknown
- Corbin Dotson, unknown
- Lamont Brown, unknown
- Vyacheslav Panasovich, Galloway
- Earl Miller, 41, Waverly
- Gregory Wilson, 62, Iroquis, Can.
- Luis Alicea, 42, Columbus
- Mohamed Mohamed, 29, Columbus
- Michael Wilson, unknown
- Christopher Davis, 34, Columbus
- Quayjuan English, 25, Columbus
- Michael Wilson, 46, Hilliard
- Casey Barnes, 22, Newark
- Virgil Caldwell, 53, Lockbourne
- Joseph Friedman, 61, Canton
- Emory Legge, 51, Bellefointaine
- Miguel Tellez-Flores, 32, Columbus
- Mark Williams, 66, Irwin
- Darwin Menjivar, 31, Richmond Heights
- Jarkay Jackson, 23, Cheyenne, Wyo.
- Mouhmed Sene, 28, Columbus
