In an after-hours court session, Zanesville drug dealer Jason Tate, 45, copped to his crimes once more. The Muskingum County Courthouse, led by Judge Kelly Cottrill, worked overtime Wednesday to hear Tate’s plea of "no contest," reported the Muskingum County Prosecutor's Office. Tate, facing a trial that was to start the subsequent morning, submitted to his charges following a failed attempt to quash a pivotal search warrant.
Set to be sentenced on October 1, 2025, at 9:00 AM, Tate gave in to several felonies, articulated as drug trafficking with additional specifications related to being a major drug offender and possessing firearms unlawfully due to five prior drug convictions. These convictions effectively strip him of the right to own guns, a limitation that, when disregarded, led to the weapons also being snagged during the raid on his residence, all laid bare according to the Muskingum County Prosecutor's Office.
The charges against Tate included two counts of Cocaine Trafficking, with additional firearm and forfeiture specifications, Aggravated Trafficking in Drugs (Methamphetamine), and five counts of Having Weapons Under a Disability. The raid in May on his Harding Road abode yielded over a kilogram of cocaine and 150 grams of methamphetamine, deviously shaped like chewable vitamins.
Alongside the narcotics, a haul of assets deemed proceeds of narcotic sales was seized, including 90 pairs of Air Jordan shoes, cash, and a television—a potpourri of value often used to squirrel away ill-gotten gains. These items are to be auctioned off, and the fund created by their sale is earmarked for drug education and enforcement efforts. The list of the shoes up for auction can be found with a click and a scurry over to the link in the official press release.
Unveiling the darkness beneath the facade of Tate's operation, a prior undercover encounter caught him red-handed selling 112 grams of cocaine for $2,600. This encounter led to an intricate audio and video capture of the transaction. Following the money trail back to Tate's door, detectives orchestrated a comprehensive raid, leading to the recovery of over $10,000 in cold hard cash and an unspecified amount of drugs, "This is yet another example of the dedication Zanesville and Muskingum County law enforcement puts into discovering, disrupting, and punishing people poisoning our neighbors with drugs," Assistant Prosecuting Attorney John Litle stated, as per the press release from the Muskingum County Prosecutor's Office.
While the possession charges against Tate were thrown out, as the law forbids punishing for possession and trafficking of the same drugs, the narrative of the case remains unchanged. Drug dealing and the chaos it sows have no sanctuary in Zanesville, heralded by the stern words of Litle, "Drug dealers should choose to stop, or to move away. If not, they will face certain and strict justice in the Muskingum County judicial system," according to the Muskingum County Prosecutor's Office.
