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05/26/2007
Lorain drug bust yields pot, counterfeit money
JENNIFER BRACKEN , Morning Journal Writer
LORAIN, OH. -- A drug dealer was put behind bars yesterday after police searched his Hamilton Avenue home, where they found more than they bargained for.
Charles Hartman, 30, a mid-level drug dealer who was on the run for nearly two years, was removed from his home as neighbors and visitors at the American Legion across the street watched.
Sgt. Roger Watkins said the Lorain SWAT team raided 237 Hamilton Ave. shortly after 2 p.m. yesterday after a bail bondsman found Hartman at the address.
Police were called to the home after Hartman, who has been known to possess weapons, barricaded himself in the house. Officers were cautious as they busted down the door.
Inside the home, officers found a marijuana growth operation.
It took four officers to remove a 40,000- pound hydraulic shop press, tailored to create bricks of marijuana, from the home. One brick of marijuana was about the size of a Rubik's Cube and weighed 5 pounds, Watkins said. Several bricks of marijuana were found packaged and ready for sale.
In addition, approximately 10 marijuana plants were found growing upstairs. Watkins estimated they recovered several thousand grams of marijuana and about an ounce of a ''cocaine-like'' substance.
Watkins said this was the second hydraulic press of that size he has seen in his career as a narcotics officer.
Approximately $2,200 was seized and several sheets of counterfeit money were confiscated from the residence. Watkins said the Secret Service will be notified about the counterfeit money for additional charges.
Five loaded weapons were also found inside the home. Watkins said Hartman admitted that the guns were his.
A refrigerator-sized safe was also removed from the home via a flat-bed tow truck. Watkins said they will need to secure a separate search warrant before it is opened.
Yesterday, Hartman was charged with trafficking in marijuana, possession of marijuana, three counts of having weapons under disability and possession of drug paraphernalia.
''The amount of evidence was amazing,'' Watkins said. ''This was a significant urban grow with guns and possible cocaine and counterfeit money. It was an operation with currency and marijuana in different stages of growth.''
Lorain police Animal Control Officer Mike Mattei removed three Rottweilers from the home. Hartman will likely face additional charges for the deplorable conditions the dogs were subjected to.
Inside the home, the windows were boarded up and a stack of shingles blocked the back door. Investigators found the home's other doors to be reinforced with steel.
Watkins said it is likely Hartman, who was born and raised in Lorain, kept a low profile because he was wanted in other drug trafficking cases.
In July 2005, Hartman was indicted on charges of trafficking cocaine and possession of drug abuse paraphernalia. After being freed on bond, police busted Hartman again after they found a marijuana growth operation in his Tacoma Avenue home. He was indicted in November that same year on charges of cultivation of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, permitting drug abuse, trafficking in marijuana and having weapons under disability.
In June 2006, he was indicted for possession of cocaine and marijuana. Hartman failed to appear for his pretrial hearings on all three cases and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Watkins said Hartman faces a number of years in prison if convicted because the majority of charges against him are felonies.
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