Vada McQueary sentenced for role in regional drug ring

Erin Couch, Zanesville Times Recorder
·2 min read
Accused of allowing drugs to be dealt from her home on Brighton Boulevard, Vada McQueary pleads guilty to three felonies in common pleas court last June. She was sentenced to four to six years in prison last week, nearly a year after she entered her plea.
Accused of allowing drugs to be dealt from her home on Brighton Boulevard, Vada McQueary pleads guilty to three felonies in common pleas court last June. She was sentenced to four to six years in prison last week, nearly a year after she entered her plea.

ZANESVILLE — A Zanesville woman will go to prison for her role in a drug ring that spanned across the region.

Last June, Vada McQueary, 56, pleaded guilty to one first-degree felony count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, one fifth-degree felony count of permitting drug abuse with a forfeiture specification and one third-degree felony count of money laundering.

Last week, she was sentenced to four to six years in prison on those charges.

McQueary was accused of selling drugs as part of a large regional operation that spanned within the community, across much of southeastern Ohio and parts of West Virginia. Several others have already been charged and sentenced for their involvement.

According to prosecutors, McQueary was selling drugs out of her Brighton Boulevard home. Sixty grams of fentanyl and 619 grams of methamphetamine were discovered after law enforcement executed a search warrant on her home last year.

Her son, Tyler Kinchen, was reportedly working with McQueary to distribute the drugs. He is spending 11 to 26-and-a-half years in prison for his connection to major dealers in the community.

Seventeen people have been charged for alleged involvement the operation. Some of them have already been sentenced.

Among them, Deangelo Tellis, of Columbus, was recently sentenced to over 16 years in prison for a lead role in the enterprise. Victoria Barrientos is serving an 18 months for managing money and hiding assets, and her mother, Misty Barrientos, is serving a six-year sentence for her role trafficking drugs.

The investigation into the trafficking ring yielded 30 pounds of methamphetamine and two pounds of fentanyl with a combined estimated street value of $620,750. Additionally, 13 firearms and $9,000 were also seized in Muskingum County.

ecouch@gannett.com

740-334-3522

Twitter: @couchreporting

This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Zanesville woman sentenced to prison in drug trafficking ring