Columbus police along with federal and state authorities have filed drug and weapons charges against 22 members of the Short North Posse gang. The charges are the result of a year-long investigation of the activities of the decades-old gang that operates out of the Weinland Park area. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dave DeVillers says the gang operated a multi-million dollar ring that distributed marijuana, crack and powdered cocaine and prescription pills. DeVillers says many of those charged were recruited into the gang by relatives or friends.
DeVillers says 16 of the 22 have been arrested. Police are still searching for one of the ringleaders, 31-year-old Jermonte Fletcher. Columbus Police Chief Kim Jacobs says the Short North Posse was called the most-violent local drug-dealing gang in 1995 when authorities tried to shut it down.
Jacobs says authorities have tried to break up the gang at least three times in the last 18 years. She hopes the charges and arrests will help solve other local crimes.