A Cincinnati man, Mason Meyer, age 32, has been dealt a heavy sentence of 25 years in prison for his connections to a web of narcotics and firearm conspiracies, marking the conclusion of a sweeping federal case that charged a total of 16 defendants, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio announced. Meyer was involved in a high-speed police chase on August 7, 2020, that ended tragically with the death of two bystanders in Newport, Kentucky; this pursuit was the unfortunate catalyst for the larger investigation, per the Justice Department's report.
During the fateful chase that day, documents reveal that Meyer and his accomplice Kirsten Johnson, who is now 26, did not just have illicit substances—over 50 grams of methamphetamine with them, but were also loaded for bear with two handguns and a rifle. The chaotic flight that ensued claimed the lives of two individuals who were dining at Press on Monmouth's patio in Newport. Moreover, two other pedestrians were also harmed, suffering minor injuries. The broader plot unraveling from that day entailed a sinister, sprawling network implicated in a narcotics conspiracy involving several drugs, methamphetamine, cocaine, LSD, MDMA, DMT, marijuana, ketamine, and firearms. Conspiracy. Ultimately, the federal grand jury came down hard on all 16 defendants in July 2021.
Evidence amassed in the case paints a vivid picture of expansive criminal activity: law enforcement seized 11 firearms, over a kilogram of methamphetamine, 200 pounds of DMT, more than five kilograms of marijuana, 15-plus kilograms of hashish and hashish oil, over one kilogram of MDMA, and a staggering 19,000 doses of LSD, alongside fentanyl, cocaine, as well as synthetic and counterfeit narcotics, the Justice Department reports. Meyer's methamphetamine supply line traced back to Ryan Haskamp, 36, who earlier in February received a 27-year sentence for managing a drug trafficking operation employing at least five residences across Cincinnati as stash houses and co-opting Airbnb locations and hotels for the same illicit purpose, these places serving as key pivot points for distributing drugs in Cincinnati and Dayton.
