Two people sentenced for drug offenses in Ohio

OHIO — Two Columbus men were sentenced today in U.S. District Court for their involvement in drug and sex trafficking crimes, as well as their roles in the deaths of a local man and woman.

Dustin A. Speakman, 35, was sentenced to 25 years in prison, and Tyler Bourdo, 31, received a 23-year sentence.

Both men were part of a larger investigation that resulted in charges against nearly two dozen individuals connected to a large-scale drug and human trafficking operation.

Speakman pleaded guilty in March 2024 to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances near an elementary school.

He also admitted his involvement in the violent death of a victim during the operation of a drug distribution house. Speakman’s sentence is 276 months (23 years).

Bourdo, who also pleaded guilty in March 2024, was sentenced to 300 months (25 years).

His charges included conspiracy to distribute drugs near a school, as well as distributing fentanyl and cocaine that led to a death, and sex trafficking.

Bourdo admitted to coercing women into performing commercial sex acts and using drugs as a means of control.

The two men are part of a group of 23 defendants charged in the investigation, which has led to convictions for all involved, either by plea or trial.

The case centers around a drug trafficking organization operated by lead defendants Patrick Saultz and Cordell Washington from 2008 to 2022, bringing large quantities of fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and other drugs into Columbus.

The organization also engaged in sex and labor trafficking and money laundering.

Speakman’s involvement began after his release from jail in 2022, where he met Saultz. He served as a mid-level distributor at drug houses on South Ogden and South Warren streets.

In one instance, he severely beat a drug runner in May 2022, who later died from blunt force trauma caused by Speakman.

Bourdo was responsible for overseeing drug distribution at a stash house on North Warren, where a woman was found dead in October 2021 after overdosing on fentanyl and crack cocaine.

Surveillance footage showed Bourdo near her body just before police arrived. Bourdo’s coercion of drug-addicted women for sex was also part of his plea.

The investigation was led by the Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission and its Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force, along with several other agencies, including the Columbus Division of Police, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy Prichard and Emily Czerniejewski represented the government in this case, which is part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) initiative to dismantle high-level criminal organizations.