6 sentenced in federal court for citywide drug bust

Editor's note: A version of this article that published in Thursday's Register contained inaccurate sentence lengths for each defendant. A corrected version of the article follows here. SANDUSKY — A federal judge recently sentenced a sixth person out of 20 arrested in September 2024 for their alleged involvement in a local drug trafficking operation centered around Sandusky. The investigation into the drug operation was carried out by multiple agencies, including Sandusky police, agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, according to a news release from the U.S. Northern District Court of Ohio. Sandusky police, along with state and federal agents, seized large amounts of narcotics. The seized items include approximately 8 pounds of methamphetamine, roughly 4 kilograms of cocaine, 300 grams of crack cocaine, 300 grams of fentanyl powder, 5,000 counterfeit fentanyl pills, about 50 counterfeit methamphetamine pills and nine illegally possessed firearms, the news release states. The following six people were sentenced on these dates in connection with the investigation, according to court records: • On March 12, Markier Castile, 23, of the 1200 block of W. Osborne St., Sandusky, was sentenced on felony counts of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute a controlled substance and use of a communication facility to facilitate a drug trafficking offense; Northern Ohio District Court Judge Jeffrey Helmick sentenced Castile to time served and was placed on a term of three years post-release control. • On Feb. 19, Brian Giving, 44, of the 1400 block of Huntington Ave., Sandusky, was sentenced on felony counts of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute a controlled substance and use of a communication facility to facilitate a drug trafficking offense; Helmick sentenced Giving to serve two years in federal prison and was placed on a term of three years post- release control. • On Feb. 18, Kendrick Scott, 52, of the 1200 block of W. Osborne St., Sandusky, was sentenced on felony counts of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute a controlled substance and use of a communication facility to facilitate a drug trafficking offense; Helmick sentenced Scott to time served and was placed on a term of three years post-release control. • On Feb. 2, Marquez Clinton, 39, of the 900 block of Sycamore Line, Sandusky, was sentenced on felony counts of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute a controlled substance, distribution of cocaine and use of a communication facility to facilitate a drug trafficking offense; Helmick sentenced Clinton to serve a little over three-and-a-half years in federal prison and was placed on a term of three years post-release control. • On Jan. 6, Eric Irby, 32, of the 1600 block of Remington Ave., Sandusky, was sentenced on felony counts of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute a controlled substance and use of a communication facility to facilitate a drug trafficking offense; Helmick sentenced Irby to serve over a year in federal prison and was placed on a term of three years post-release control. • On Aug. 26, 2025, Danny Johnson, 41, Elyria, Ohio, was sentenced on felony counts of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute a controlled substance and possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute; Helmick sentenced Johnson to serve 10 years in federal prison and was placed on a term of five years post-release control. Eleven additional defendants, Mark Castile Jr., Mark Castile Sr., Jarvis Pool, Johnny Cherry, Salei Harris, Dashour Smith, Anrico Cunningham Sr., Marvin Cunningham, Shon Alexander, Brent Hanson and Dean Swain, all have an upcoming court hearing scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on April 10. Sentencing is scheduled for another three defendants: • Bryonia Myers, 37, of the 1300 block of Carr St., Sandusky, is scheduled to be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. on March 24. • Tremar Pearson, 26, of the 900 block of Sycamore Line, Sandusky, is scheduled to be sentenced at 1 p.m. on July 7. • Alycia Cross, 35, of the 500 block of Ravine Drive, Sandusky, is scheduled to be sentenced at 2 p.m. on June 30.