Dayton man arrested for role in ‘Diamond Cut’ drug trafficking ring sentenced to 60 months

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Smith is currently in prison, and was sentenced via video conferencing.

The release said that investigators received information on the Diamond Cut drug organization in February 2019, which said that they were distributing drugs from the Saint Clair Lofts on South Saint Clair Street in Dayton. They were allegedly keeping large amounts of fentanyl and heroin along with several firearms in an abandoned green Ford sedan in a parking lot behind the apartments.

In March 2019, the co-conspirators allegedly moved their operations from the Saint Clair Lofts to North Upland Avenue, the release said, although they also allegedly operated drug stash houses on Homesite Drive in Harrison Township and Kipling Drive and Belmont Park Drive in Dayton.

James Easterling and Benjamin G. Vaughn were also charged in this case.

Easterling admitted to selling 112 grams of fentanyl and heroin in Montgomery County in exchange for thousands of dollars in case, and was sentenced last month to 60 months in prison.

>>Dayton man gets 60 months in prison for his role in 'Diamond Cut' drug ring

Vaughn was sentenced in March 2020, also to 60 months in prison. The U.S. Attorney’s Office pointed out Vaughn was also a defendant in a drug trafficking case from 2008 along with several others, and was sentenced in that case to 151 months in prison.

Eight total Diamond Cut members have been prosecuted before Smith, Vaughn, and Easterling. In 2018, three were sentenced in federal court on drug and gun charges: Clarence Winn, Jr. – a Dayton rap artist known as “Chaos” – was sentenced to 108 months in prison; Larry Winn, who is related to Clarence Winn, Jr., was sentenced to 60 months; and Darrius J. Reynolds, who was sentenced to 18 months.

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The remaining five members, the release said, were Brandon Lee “Aec” Smith, Quinton “Big Mike” Clemons, Leo “Butter” Boykins, Quinten “Q” Robinson and Marcus “Roscoe” Ross.