Wayne man guilty of trafficking in narcotics

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TOLEDO – A federal jury last week convicted three area residents, including a Wayne man, of participating in a drug trafficking conspiracy that distributed large quantities of cocaine, cocaine base (crack) and fentanyl throughout the Toledo area.

Marquise Figures, 37, of Wayne, and Antuan Wynn, 47, and Christopher Simpson, 31, both of Toledo, were convicted, according to a news release by the Department of Justic, Northern District of Ohio.

Wynn, Figures and Simpson were convicted of participating in a conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of controlled substances and use of a cell phone to facilitate a drug trafficking felony following a seven-day trial before U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary in Toledo.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, from December 2019 to November 2021, Wynn, Figures and Simpson were part of a larger drug trafficking organization that possessed and distributed quantities of at least 5 kilograms of cocaine, at least 400 grams of fentanyl and quantities of crack cocaine throughout the Toledo area.

Evidence presented during the trial showed that Wynn supplied co-conspirator Anthony Duff with substantial quantities of cocaine, which Duff then redistributed to other conspiracy members, including Figures.

In addition, prosecutors presented evidence that Simpson supplied other members of the conspiracy with quantities of fentanyl intended to be redistributed.

According to court documents, the three defendants used cell phones to communicate and facilitate their drug trafficking activity. In order to conceal their identity from law enforcement, court documents state that the defendants and other co-conspirators obtained cell phones using fictitious names, the names of others or no names at all.

Court documents also showed that the conspirators used various locations around the Toledo area to distribute, store, break down and package narcotics and the proceeds generated from the sale of narcotics.

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