For Greene County News

DAYTON — Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Carter Stewart recently announced that six additional suspects are now facing federal charges as part of an ongoing investigation involving forged painkiller prescriptions.

The charges are the result of the “Operation Safety Net” investigation underway by investigators working as part of an Ohio Attorney General’s Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission (OOCIC) task force.

The six Dayton residents are all facing a federal charge of conspiracy to possess drugs with intent to distribute. Additional charges are expected to be filed in the future.

Of the six suspects, four were arrested and arraigned in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio yesterday: Sandy Bryson, 51; Candice Crouch, 20; Dustin Crouch, 26; and Mandy McGhee, 37.

According to investigators, the six individuals are accused of purchasing dozens of forged painkiller prescriptions for drugs such as Oxycodone, Percocet, and Vicodin. The defendants allegedly filled many of the prescriptions at pharmacies in the Dayton area and profited by selling the majority of the drugs on the streets.

“Prescription drug addiction is a very serious problem in Ohio, and we will not tolerate those who traffic pills into our neighborhoods to feed that addiction,” DeWine said. “I commend the local, state, and federal authorities who have been working throughout the past several months to shut this operation down.”

Two individuals suspected of creating and selling the forged prescriptions were arrested by the task force in November and are also facing federal charges.

No additional arrests are expected as part of this investigation.

The OOCIC task force responsible for investigating this case is made up of law enforcement officers from the Tactical Crime Suppression Unit (TCSU); Centerville Police Department; Kettering Police Department; Germantown Police Department; Ohio Department of Public Safety; and U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of the Inspector General. Authorities with the Dayton Police Department assisted in the investigation, and authorities with the U.S. Marshals Service Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team (SOFAST) assisted in serving arrest warrants.