In the “Let's Make a Deal” world of drug interdiction, Woodrow Ormiston's plea deal works out to 75 months. Implicated by two suspected drug dealers looking to shorten their sentences, Ormiston on Wednesday pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and money laundering.
He faces six years and three months' imprisonment at his sentencing, scheduled for March 16.
The keys to the nearly three-year investigation by the Fort Wayne office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were suspected drug dealers Alan Lichty and Shane Silvers. Both face federal drug charges, according to Ormiston's arrest affidavit written by Special Agent Sean Skender. Employing the standard “use the little fish to hook the big fish” strategy, information from Lichty and Silvers, along with audiotape and video were used to implicate Ormiston, described as a “midlevel” dealer by Robert N. Trgovich, the assistant United States attorney prosecuting the case.
Ormiston's lawyer, attorney Mark S. Olivero, is out of town and could not be reached for comment.
The probe began in October 2005 when Silvers identified Ormiston as the main player in a drug ring. Silvers, who said he was an Ormiston customer, said Ormiston dealt 4-6 kilograms out of his McArthur Drive home and garage and from a garage in the 9100 block of Bluffton Road. A kilo has a street value of up to $24,000 in Fort Wayne, according to the affidavit.
Lichty, who said he bought cocaine from Silvers, also implicated Ormiston. While both Lichty and Silvers informed on Ormiston in hopes of getting lighter sentences, Trgovich said no promises were made.
“The expectation was a lighter sentence, but what exactly that means, they're not told,” said Trgovich, who has worked in the Department of Justice's Fort Wayne division since 1989. “That's what we practice with everyone.”
While about 2 ounces of cocaine and a pound of marijuana were seized from Ormiston along with $21,600 in cash, Trgovich said it's plausible to believe Ormiston was dealing kilos. The assertion is based on the cash seized from Ormiston and the volume of traffic in and out of Ormiston's home that Skender wrote that he videotaped between September 2007 and May when Ormiston was arrested.
Further evidence is a tape of a phone call in which Skender wrote that Ormiston admitted cocaine was in the McArthur Drive garage.
The money laundering charge relates to Ormiston, a 36-year-old motorcycle store owner, attempting to refinance his home with drug profits, Trgovich said.
Ormiston's deal also requires him to give $66,000 and two motorcycles to the government.
