Meth found during Portage County traffic stop nets 20-plus year sentence for man
A Mahoning County man has been sentenced to more than 20 years in federal prison stemming from meth found during a 2021 traffic stop in Portage County.
Joseph Lee Wounaris, 38, of Berlin Center, was sentenced March 17 in U.S. 6th District Court for the Northern District of Ohio to 21 years and 10 months in prison, according to court records.
Wounaris pleaded guilty in November to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
According to a Portage County sheriff's report, Wounaris was driving a Honda Civic westbound on U.S. Route 224 in Atwater when he turned north onto Industry Road on the afternoon of Aug. 9, 2021. As he made the turn, Wounaris passed a stationary sheriff's cruiser and the deputy in it smelled the odor of burnt marijuana coming from the Honda's open windows.
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The deputy followed the car, determining that its registration was expired. It turned into a driveway and as it did so, the deputy reported seeing a bag fall from the Honda's underside.
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The report said Wounaris and two passengers, a North Canton man and a Columbia County woman, admitted they had smoked marijuana earlier. A baseball-size white crystalline substance suspected of being meth and three small bags containing suspected meth were found in the bag that had fallen from the car. Also found were a small bag containing suspected fentanyl, a scale, empty bags and two smoking devices. A box containing 20 ammunition cartridges was found in the vehicle.
Wounaris pleaded guilty in November 2021 to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine; an October federal grand jury indictment stated the charge was in connection to 50 grams of meth Wounaris possessed.
As part of a plea deal, two other charges in the indictment were dismissed. These included distribution of methamphetamine, stemming from an allegation that Wounaris distributed 5 grams of meth in October 2020, and felon in possession of ammunition. Wounaris is not legally allowed to have ammunition due to a 2011 conviction on felony drug trafficking and drug manufacturing charges in Portage County, and 2014 and 2018 drug trafficking convictions in Stark County, according to the indictment.
A search of federal and Portage County court records did not uncover any charges against the two passengers in connection with the traffic stop.
Reporter Jeff Saunders can be reached at jsaunders@recordpub.com.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Meth found during Portage County traffic stop nets man 20-plus years
