Dayton man gets 60 months in prison for his role in ‘Diamond Cut’ drug ring

James P. Easterling, 36, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 60 months in prison.

According to his plea agreement, on June 13, 2019, he sold about 112 grams of fentanyl and heroin in Montgomery County for several thousand dollars cash, according to a release from U.S. Attorney David M. DeVillers of the Southern District of Ohio.

In February 2019, investigators received information about the “Diamond Cut” drug organization distributing drugs from the Saint Clair Lofts on South Saint Clair Street in Dayton. The co-conspirators allegedly were keeping large amounts of fentanyl, heroin and several firearms in an abandoned green Ford sedan in the parking lot behind the Lofts, the release stated.

The co-conspirators allegedly moved their drug operations from the Lofts to North Upland Avenue in March 2019, with drug stash houses on Homesite Drive in Harrison Twp. and Kipling Drive and Belmont Park North in Dayton, according to the release.

Others charged in this case include: Levy K. Smith IV and Benjamin G. Vaughn. Vaughn was sentenced in March 2020 to 60 months in prison. Smith has pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 12.

Vaughn was a defendant in a 2008 drug trafficking case prosecuted by this office and involving several other individuals. In that case, Vaughn was sentenced to 151 months in federal prison.

In 2018, three other Diamond Cut associates were sentenced in federal court in Dayton for drug and gun crimes. Clarence Winn Jr. – a Dayton rap artist known as “Chaos” – was sentenced to 108 months in prison. His relative, Larry Winn, was sentenced to 60 months in prison. Darrius J. Reynolds was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

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Another five alleged Diamond Cut members were prosecuted federally after a 2012 arrest. They included: Brandon Lee “Ace” Smith, Quinton “Big Mike” Clemons, Leo “Butter” Boykins, Quinten “Q” Robinson and Marcus “Roscoe” Ross, the release stated.

RELATED: Diamond Cut among groups targeted by officials in 2012