A Trumbull County man has been sentenced to prison in connection with a cross-country drug trafficking operation that transported controlled substances from California to Ohio.

Andre L. Bowers, 55, of Warren, was sentenced to 128 months (10 years, 6 months) in prison by U.S. District Judge Pamela A. Barker after he pleaded guilty in September to attempted possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute. He was also sentenced to five years of supervised release.

According to court documents, on Jan. 4, 2025, the Ohio State Highway Patrol conducted a traffic stop on a trailer truck hauling vehicles from California to Ohio. Troopers received consent from the driver to inspect two vehicles that were suspected of having controlled substances. The vehicles were found to be altered to conceal illegal drugs. Upon further inspection of the gas tanks on both cars, investigators seized a total of 36 brick-sized packages that later tested positive for cocaine and weighed in at nearly 80 pounds.

However, troopers allowed the truck to continue to its intended destination. Federal law enforcement officers with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) proceeded to track and observe the truck as it delivered the two vehicles to a location in Warren. Bowers was later seen arriving there and then proceeded to drive each vehicle that previously contained the cocaine packages, to a location on Park Avenue in Warren. Two days later, federal agents conducted a search warrant execution at that location and took Bowers into custody. Agents found that one of the back seats had been taken out and placed next to the vehicle along with gloves and tools used to remove it. Two residences connected to Bowers were subsequently searched and investigators seized six firearms, 1.4 kilograms of a fentanyl analogue and 136 grams of pure methamphetamine.

This case was investigated by the DEA Youngstown Resident Office, with assistance from the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

The prosecution was led by Assistant United States Attorney Vasile Katsaros and David M. Toepfer, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.