A sealed DEA affidavit – which the Enquirer obtained – shows a local defense attorney was also a prolific sex trafficker who for decades has supplied his clients with drugs “in exchange for and as an incentive to participate in acts of prostitution.”
“I don’t have any other information on this, but if we get credible information on a human trafficking ring we would absolutely act upon that,” Wickerham said.
During interviews, some of the women cried, visibly trembled or stole furtive glances over their shoulders to make sure they couldn’t be overheard.Heather Hren, 37, was 24 when she says she first started working for Michael Mearan, a prominent local attorney and city councilman. She said over... “It wasn’t like you could go to the police department,” Hren said. “There is no one that these girls can tell... Everybody's in each other's pocket."Liz Dufour/The EnquirerPortsmouth once was an economic rival to cities such as Cincinnati, and in the 1930s was home to a National Football League team.
The affidavit details a sprawling investigation that had been underway for at least 20 months. Agents had installed a GPS tracking device on Eubanks’ gold Hummer H2; surveillance teams followed him and documented with whom he met; a hidden camera behind Eubanks’ residence recorded when he came and went; agents sifted through Eubanks’ garbage in search of evidence; and at least four confidential sources provided agents with incriminating information.
Mearan also warned Eubanks about active investigations and once gave him the identity of a confidential informant sent to make drug buys from Eubanks, the affidavit states.The affidavit notes that there were more than 200 phone calls and text messages over a one-year period between the men and that a surveillance team watched Eubanks arrive at Mearan’s law office one day toting a thermos that agents suspected concealed $1,600 in cash.
During two separate interviews, his phone seemingly never stopped ringing. His secretary shuttled in and out to deliver paperwork for him to address. At least three potential clients knocked on his door in search of help. A pack of mixed-breed rescue dogs roamed about in search of attention. And his adult daughter yelled at reporters to leave her father alone.
Three of the four confidential sources in the investigation are associated with Mearan, not Eubanks, according to the affidavit. Most of the sex trafficking allegations concerning Mearan appear to come from either those sources or more than two dozen unnamed women who are not specified as confidential sources.
Some of the damning information about Mearan is presented in the affidavit as not coming from a source but as a fact, with no qualifications about its veracity. Michael Mearan, 72, is a prominent Portsmouth, Ohio attorney. His home and office sit conveniently next to the Scioto County Courthouse. The Ironton native and Ohio State alum, has long been rumored to run a sex trafficking operation out of this small rural town.The affidavit cites two Portsmouth individuals who are not named as targets of the DEA investigation, but who are implicated as Mearan's associates.
Brisker declined to comment. In an email, he referred questions to Mearan, whom he called his personal attorney. The state Supreme Court last month suspended Marshall from practicing law for six months due to the incident. Marshall explained his behavior to a county prosecutor by saying: “I didn’t like the trooper. He didn’t listen to me. There used to be a code in this county – I’m a judge and he shouldn’t have written my daughter" a ticket.
If she left, she said, she was worried Mearan might use his connections to have her sent to prison – or worse. "I’m one of the few who got away,” she said. “I’ll make sure that I have a roof over our head and we don’t have to depend on a nasty sugar daddy to pay for it.” Kadie Lancaster has continued to dig into what happened to Megan. She keeps one of Megan’s bras in the freezer, just in case it has DNA evidence, and compiled a 5-inch thick binder filled with documents that she considers potential clues.Megan Lancaster was 24 when she went missing in Portsmouth, Ohio in April of 2013. She's never been found. She battled addiction and was an...
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