Court records reveal how police identified NKY councilman as suspected meth dealer
Northern Kentucky authorities identified a former Highland Heights City Council member as a suspected drug dealer through text messages and an interview with an associate who was also arrested on drug charges, newly obtained court filings show.
Edward Fessler, 44, resigned on April 11, three weeks after his fellow council members charged him with misconduct − beginning the process of removing him from council themselves − following his arrest on charges of drug trafficking and possession.
In January, 52-year-old Bobby Jacob was arrested on charges of drug trafficking and possession of drug paraphernalia after Highland Heights police found him in possession of crystal meth during a traffic stop on Interstate 471, the application for the search warrant for Fessler's home shows.
Authorities searched Jacob's cell phone and came across text conversations with someone named "Edd," who was trying to obtain crystal meth from Jacob, according to the document. Investigators used a database to track the phone number and found it belonged to Fessler.
Jacob, who entered a guilty plea last month, was interviewed at the Campbell County Detention Center by a Drug Enforcement Administration investigator and an agent with the Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force, the document states. He identified "Edd" as Fessler and said he had received crystal meth from Fessler in the past but more recently he would source Fessler with the drug.
Fessler was "very proud to be a council member and would brag about it," Jacob told investigators, according to the document.
Fessler was arrested on Feb. 21 after the Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force executed a search warrant on his Linet Avenue home. During the search of his home, agents found over 2 grams of methamphetamine, two firearms, marijuana, LSD and psilocybin, or psychedelic mushrooms, according to a criminal citation.
Court records show Fessler is charged in part with trafficking methamphetamine. He told agents that he sells around a half gram "a week to every other week" to two people, the citation states, adding he also said he buys a quarter ounce of the drug every week.
Fessler was arraigned last month in Campbell County Circuit Court, court records show. He pleaded not guilty.
James Tanner Duncan, Fessler's attorney, declined to comment on the allegations but said, "We respect the integrity of the ongoing court case."
At the time of his arrest, Fessler was a first-term council member, one of six candidates elected to the Highland Heights City Council last year. According to his profile on the city's website, which has since been removed, Fessler has lived in Highland Heights for roughly 18 years.
During Tuesday night's meeting, Highland Heights City Manager Michael Giffen said, the council selected former Councilwoman Rene Heinrich to fill the vacancy left by Fessler.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: NKY councilman linked to drug trafficking through texts, records show
