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Dad, son lived high-end lifestyle as ‘major' drug traffickers in Ohio, feds say
An Ohio father and son are accused of running a 'major' narcotics trafficking operation and living an 'extravagant lifestyle' together funded by the drug money, federal prosecutors say.
Stephen Wheeler, 49, and his 30-year-old son, Romello Wheeler, worked as a team and shared a 'luxury' apartment in downtown Cincinnati with a monthly rent of more than $4,000, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio said in a June 23 news release.
But their expensive tastes weren't limited to housing, according to officials.
McClatchy News reached out to attorneys listed for the men but didn't immediately receive a response.
'Throughout the eight-month investigation, the defendants drove nine different high-end vehicles, traveled extensively throughout the United States and internationally, and purchased front-row tickets with field passes for the Halftime Show for the Super Bowl in Los Angeles,' the release said.
The DEA launched an investigation into the Wheelers in July 2022, which ended in their arrests in February 2023, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court.
In court records, a DEA agent described the Wheeler's operation as a 'large scale drug trafficking organization that is a major source of illegal narcotics in Cincinnati, Ohio, including cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamine, and marijuana.'
Stephen Wheeler was the head of the organization and his son was the primary distributor, records said.
Investigators surveilled the Wheelers visiting various stash houses, though they took measures to avoid being caught, including altering their appearance and changing clothing, documents read. They would also 'regularly conduct counter surveillance measures, such as driving evasively, systematically driving in indirect routes with frequent stops to watch traffic and identify law enforcement.'
On Feb. 7, 2023, authorities searched a storage unit the Wheelers used and discovered large amounts of meth and fentanyl, according to the complaint. The same day, agents raided the Wheelers' apartment where they found 212 pounds of marijuana and a 'large amount of bulk US currency,' the complaint read.
The men were charged and later pleaded guilty to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute narcotics, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Stephen Wheeler was sentenced to 15 years in prison on June 20, officials said, and Romello Wheeler was sentenced to 12 and a half years in April.
