Man involved in Columbus drug, sex trafficking ring pleads guilty in fatal beating

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- The 18th defendant who was indicted for their involvement in a large-scale drug and sex trafficking ring that operated near a Columbus elementary school has pleaded guilty.

A release from the U.S. Court in the Southern District of Ohio said that 34-year-old Dustin Speakman pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy to distribute and possess controlled substances near an elementary school. He joined the organization in 2022 after being released from jail.

While pleading guilty, Speakman also admitted to his involvement in the death of a man while he was operating a drug distribution house. In May 2022, Speakman said that he severely beaten one of his drug runners and gave him free cocaine and fentanyl as compensation. Soon after the beating, the victim seized and foamed at the mouth, per the U.S. District Court.

The victim was driven to an alley near Grant Medical Center where Columbus Fire personnel found him unconscious with severe trauma. He was pronounced dead with blunt force trauma being ruled the cause of death.

Speakman faces 20-23 years in prison and is one of nearly two dozen individuals who has been indicted for their involvement in the drug ring.

NBC4 previously reported that federal officers arrested eight men and three women who were all charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, cocaine and cocaine base in a narcotics ring that made dealings over two years. Agents seized $1.5 million in cash, 44 firearms, seven vehicles and a motorcycle.

The ring operated for 14 years out of multiple west Columbus houses, including a house that was across the street from Burroughs Elementary School in the Hilltop neighborhood on the southwest side.

The original indictment included the following defendants:

Defendants added in the superseding indictment unsealed in October of 2022 include: