An inmate serving time in an Ohio prison managed to keep a fentanyl pipeline flowing into Marion County using nothing but a monitored prison phone line, directing drug buys, pricing, and cash deliveries from behind bars until a multi-agency task force caught up to him. Jose Lopez, Brandon Young, and Hailey Nagel were sentenced this week after the scheme was unraveled, with a judge also ordering the forfeiture of cash, firearms, and a car bought with drug proceeds.
Marion County Common Pleas Court Judge Matthew Frericks ordered the forfeiture of $6,280 in cash, firearms, and a 2017 Dodge Charger purchased with illicit drug funds following the sentencings, according to 10TV. The investigation into Lopez dated back to June 2024, and as reported by WKEF, detectives with the MARMET Drug Task Force reviewed telephone calls Lopez made while incarcerated and found he was directing Young and others on the acquisition, pricing, distribution, and proceeds of illegal drugs — an operation that included fentanyl and buprenorphine.
Marion County Prosecutor Ray Grogan said the prison phone surveillance captured a specific July 2024 call in which Lopez directed Young on drug purchase quantities and retail pricing. Grogan also noted that Nagel is the mother of Lopez's children, per the outlet's reporting. Lopez directed the delivery of thousands of dollars in drug proceeds and shared a Marion County residence with Nagel, where MARMET detectives executed a search warrant and found $6,280 in cash, a handgun, and the Dodge Charger that was later determined to have been purchased with trafficking proceeds.
Searches Turn Up Fentanyl and Cash at Two Addresses
A separate search of Young's residence turned up another firearm, multiple cell phones, large amounts of cash, and drug-distribution packaging materials, along with approximately 238.47 grams of a fentanyl-related compound. Young was convicted of two counts of trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound and was sentenced to 14 to 17.5 years in prison. Nagel was convicted of attempted money laundering and received a term of probation.
Lopez was convicted of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, complicity to trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound, and trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound. He will serve 12 to 14.5 years in prison in addition to two existing sentences — the same report notes that this new term runs concurrently with two prison sentences he was already serving when the task force launched its investigation, meaning the additional time will not necessarily extend his overall release date.
The wide sentencing ranges trace back to Ohio's Reagan Tokes Law, also known as Senate Bill 201, which mandates indefinite prison terms for qualifying first- and second-degree felony drug trafficking offenses. Under that law, a judge sets a minimum term while the maximum is capped at 150% of that minimum, according to Graham Law — which is why Young's sentence spans 14 to 17.5 years and Lopez's spans 12 to 14.5 years.
Prosecutor Says Prison Walls Didn't Stop the Operation
Grogan said prison walls did not stop Lopez from directing a fentanyl operation in Marion County, and that investigators can build a case when a defendant tries to run a drug business from a jail phone. He added that anyone who keeps fentanyl supply moving will be prosecuted. The case was built on calls made through the state's non-attorney inmate phone system, which is routinely recorded and monitored by prison intelligence personnel, providing admissible evidence in court, according to Pigeonly.
MARMET operates as a multi-agency executive unit governed by a board that includes Marion County Sheriff Matt Bayles, Marion Police Chief Jay McDonald, and Grogan, per the task force's own materials posted at MARMET. During 2024, the same year the Lopez investigation began, the task force seized 103 grams of heroin and fentanyl, 120 grams of methamphetamine, 225 grams of cocaine, 87 prescription pills, and four firearms across Marion County.
Fentanyl Remains a Leading Local and State Threat
The case lands against a grim statewide backdrop. Fentanyl or fentanyl analogs were involved in 69% of Ohio's 2,931 unintentional drug overdose deaths in 2024, a figure that still represented a 42% decrease in fatal fentanyl overdoses compared to 2023, according to the Ohio Department of Health. Locally, Marion County ranked third among all Ohio counties in 2024 for its rate of overdose-related emergency department visits per 100,000 residents, trailing only Richland and Clinton counties, per the Community Overdose Action Team.
MARMET's enforcement record in Marion has included other major fentanyl cases in recent memory. In May 2025, a Marion County jury convicted two local men, Jajuan Allen and Jalen Allen, on multiple fentanyl trafficking charges following a MARMET sting involving 114 grams of fentanyl, 10TV reported at the time. Hoodline has previously covered other Marion County felony cases prosecuted by Grogan, including a fentanyl traffic stop conviction and a porch drive-by case from earlier this year.
