( Lebanon ) A Cincinnati man will serve eight years in prison for his participation in a drug trafficking organization that supplied high-grade marijuana to students in two Warren County school districts.

59-year-old Allen Honeycutt was found guilty on Thursday of trafficking, possession and cultivation of marijuana, possession of criminal tools and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.  Common Pleas Court Judge Robert Peeler immediately sentenced Honeycutt to serve a mandatory eight years in prison and pay mandatory fines of $17,500.  Honeycutt must also serve five years of post release control after he is released from prison.

During their investigation, officers found three indoor grow operations that produced high-grade marijuana sold by the organization throughout southwestern Ohio.  Officers seized 600 marijuana plants, over $100,000 in cash, and several hundred grams of harvested marijuana.  The marijuana was worth an estimated $2.9 million.  Investigators were able to trace the distribution network to a 17-year old Mason High School student who himself was the primary source for marijuana for students in the Mason school district, and a significant source of marijuana for students in the Kings school district. 

Honeycutt was the last person to face charges among seven adults and the Mason High School teen whose involvement ultimately allowed authorities to bust the sophisticated operation.  The youth admitted his involvement and was sentenced to six months to three years in a juvenile detention facility last October.

Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell issued the following statement in response to the verdict and sentence:  “Allen Honeycutt and his co-conspirators made hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars trafficking drugs to our young people.  It is particularly satisfying to see him have to answer for his despicable actions.”