30 fugitives rounded up in Northern Ohio sting

Posing as representatives from a cellular telephone company, seven deputy marshals helped orchestrate a sting operation in Warren, Ohio, which netted 30 local fugitives before sending them to the county jail.

Detective Sgt. Don Hyde, Trumbull County (Ohio) Sheriff's Office, came up with the arrest plan as a way to rouse up as many of the county's 800 fugitives as possible. He contacted the Marshals Service's Northern District of Ohio for assistance because he didn't want to run the risk of any of his colleagues being found out.

"They wanted us to run the floor because they figured some of the fugitives would recognize them from being in the county jail," said Deputy Marshal David Hale.

Casting the net

Months prior to the operation, members of the sheriff's office met several times with Northern Ohio deputies to lay the framework for the operation. The deputy sheriffs then set up a fictitious cellular phone company called Global Technology Journey, the initials of which – GTJ – secretly stood for "go to jail."

They created a bogus letterhead and mailed out flyers to the last known addresses of the 800 fugitives, who had warrants ranging from traffic violations to felony assaults. The flyers promised free cellular phones and two months of unlimited calling, as well as a chance to win a 2000 Ford Explorer and cash prizes, to everyone who attended an upcoming promotional event at the Packard Music Hall.

"We sent 800 letters out but 300 were returned for bad addresses," Hale said. "And fifty people were arrested in the months between sending the flyers out and the actual sting, so were down to 450."

As it turned out, 45 people showed up for the promotion, and of these, 30 were actual fugitives.

"We ran [identification] checks on everyone who showed up, but since we didn't want anyone to get suspicious, we let everyone into the auditorium," Hale said.

‘You're under arrest'

Seven deputy marshals – Hale, Andrew Deserto, Donna Faff, Joseph Good, Troy Mizell, Howard Pfeiler and Edward Smith – took part in the event. They teamed up with 65 members of the sheriff's office, including their tactical unit.

The Service deputies, decked out in Global Technology Journey apparel, greeted the respondents as they came through the door. They took down driver's license information and explained the details of the free cellular service, thus allowing the contingent of deputy sheriffs to remain out of sight.

Refreshments were served and smiles were all around, but soon enough it was down to business.

"We had the doors open for about an hour and interacted with the people as they came in," Hale said. "They could come and go as they pleased until we rounded everyone up inside the auditorium."

Everyone quickly took their seats in preparation for the prize drawings. That's when the tactical team stormed onto the scene and Cinderella's coach turned into a pumpkin.

Hale: "I was up front with two other deputies, and I said, ‘Thanks for coming. I'm a deputy marshal and all these people you now see are law enforcement officers.

"Keep your seats because you're under arrest.'"

Individuals with active warrants were taken to the county jail and those that didn't were turned loose.

"Everything went down flawlessly," Hale said. "Nobody acted up."

Satisfied with the proceedings

The Trumbull County sheriffs were pleased with the results. They had previously researched numerous stings, and the numbers from their operation, in which 30 arrests were made from a possible 450 fugitive warrants, are typical of other such ventures across the country.

"This was a pretty average success rate," Hale said. "You just don't know when you do something like this, so we planned for everything. We could have ended up with 150 fugitives in there."

The Northern Ohio deputy believes he and his colleagues can build on the Warren sting and keep the momentum going in his district by possibly coordinating a similar operation in Youngstown.

"I learned a lot from this and I've since learned from other deputies throughout the agency about ways we can do things differently in the future," Hale said.

And he was quick to spread the credit around for a job well done.

"The sheriffs did a good job of making everything look legitimate. They set up a 1-800 number to field calls, sent out professional-looking letters, had the logo shirts made up and also borrowed the Ford Explorer [that was used as prize bait]."

He was also pleased with the rapport that was further built up between the Marshals Service and its counterparts in the sheriff's office. It's a relationship, he said, that is mutually beneficial.

"We were more than happy to provide assistance to the sheriffs because they help us a great deal, too. As part of a three-man office [in Youngstown], we rely on the locals pretty heavily."

Of course, no matter how much planning is done, there is always the unexpected twist in this type of operation. Such was the case when Hale recognized one of the fugitives.

"One of the guys we arrested works out at my gym," he said. "So it was kind of funny."