A multi-agency drug investigation in Hernando County has led to the arrests of three people, including a 61-year-old staffer at a Hillsborough County elementary school who was taken into custody at her workplace days after detectives searched her home. Matthew Cupps, 40, Donald Ferrin, 83, and Jill Leverich, 61, now face an array of drug charges stemming from an October 2 search warrant executed at a residence on Fairlawn Street in Hernando County.
Search Warrant Targets Fairlawn Street Home
According to the Tampa Free Press, the Hernando County Sheriff's Office's Vice and Narcotics Unit conducted the investigation with support from a special intelligence unit, identifying Cupps as a suspect selling fentanyl from the home at 7051 Fairlawn Street. Investigators say Cupps was selling fentanyl in amounts that met the legal threshold for trafficking, and detectives believe he had completed a fentanyl sale shortly before deputies arrived to execute the warrant on October 2.
Ferrin and Leverich were reportedly absent when detectives first entered the residence, but detectives arrested Cupps outside the home. Ferrin later returned to the property and was arrested there, the outlet reports. Leverich, who owns the Fairlawn Street residence, was not taken into custody that day — detectives instead secured an arrest warrant for her, and the Tampa Police Department arrested her three days later, on October 5, at Seminole Heights Elementary School, where she was identified as a staffer.
Bedrooms Yielded Fentanyl, Meth and a Hallucinogen
Investigators say they found drugs and paraphernalia in both Ferrin's and Leverich's bedrooms. Ferrin's room reportedly contained fentanyl, marijuana and paraphernalia used for fentanyl consumption, while Leverich's bedroom held methamphetamine, tramadol, marijuana, drug paraphernalia and capsules containing white powder that field-tested positive for 2C-B — a Schedule I synthetic psychedelic that can trigger hallucinations, per the same account.
Cupps, after receiving Miranda warnings, spoke with detectives and admitted he had been selling fentanyl from the house, according to investigators. He reportedly told them the other residents knew about his drug activities and said Leverich used methamphetamine. Investigators also allege Leverich allowed Cupps to stay at the home despite knowing he sold drugs. Detectives reported finding dilaudid pills, an unprescribed tadalafil tablet and a glass pipe containing methamphetamine residue on Cupps himself.
Charges Filed Against All Three
Cupps faces two counts of selling fentanyl, fentanyl trafficking charges, possession of fentanyl with intent to sell, two counts of keeping a structure for drug sales, two counts of unlawful use of a two-way communication device, possession of dilaudid, possession of a legend drug without a prescription, and three counts of drug paraphernalia possession, the Tampa Free Press reports.
Ferrin was booked on possession of fentanyl, possession of marijuana over 20 grams, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Leverich is charged with possession of methamphetamine, possession of 2C-B, possession of tramadol, possession of marijuana under 20 grams, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of a structure for drug sales.
Fentanyl's Toll Statewide
Drug-poisoning deaths have become the leading cause of injury death in Florida, according to the Florida Department of Health's substance use dashboard, which notes that naloxone can reverse the fatal effects of an overdose and that the state distributes the medication to both medical professionals and lay individuals. The Hernando County case follows a similar bust earlier this year in nearby Spring Hill, where the Hernando County Sheriff's Office said four people were arrested after a six-month narcotics investigation that turned up trafficking-level amounts of methamphetamine and fentanyl along with marijuana, pills, two firearms and $1,230 in cash, as reported by FOX 13 Tampa Bay.
