COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A Columbus man who pleaded guilty in federal court to taking part in a drug pipeline from Arizona to Ohio has been sentenced to more than 12 years in prison.
According to a release from the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, 24-year-old Dawit Mamay helped ship “at least 17 kilograms of methamphetamine and fentanyl” using U.S. Priority Mail.
Court documents revealed that Mamay and three other defendants used false names and/or addresses on the packages containing drugs and money and kept tabs on the bundles using the United States Postal Service tracking system.
The operation was alleged to have run from September 2020 through April 2021. The evidence against Mamay included a package he mailed in early October 2020 containing more than 6,000 grams of fentanyl, which was intercepted by law enforcement.
Another package, which was mailed to Mamay’s co-defendant, Ermias Golla, was also intercepted by law enforcement and “contained more than 6,000 grams of methamphetamine that lab tested at 96 percent purity.”
All three of Mamay’s co-defendants agreed to plead guilty to federal narcotics charges. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash from Golla’s residence in the Short North were seized in the case.
