An Ohio mother who sold several pounds of meth to buy a farm and put one of her children through college will now be separated from her family for 11 years, following her conviction on Monday.
Janet Gartner, 41, and her live-in boyfriend, Nicholas Tony Bair, 40, were deemed ‘unconventional’ drug dealers by law enforcement because neither of them allegedly used any of the five pounds of meth, cocaine, or pot found in their rural farmhouse in Kimbolton earlier this year.
Instead, her attorney Nicole Churchill suggested Gartner only devised the scheme with Bair to help supplement their incomes and send one of her children to college.
‘She only wanted to sell enough to buy a farm and put one of her children through college,’ Churchill said in court yesterday, Y-City News reported.
‘When the drugs were gone, it was going to be over,’ Churchill said. ‘She would go back and be content on cleaning rich people’s toilets.’
Janet Gartner (left), 41, and her live-in boyfriend, Nicholas Tony Bair (right), 40, were deemed ‘unconventional’ drug dealers by prosecutors because neither of them allegedly used any of the five pounds of meth, cocaine, or pot found in their rural farmhouse in Kimbolton earlier this year
‘She only wanted to sell enough to buy a farm and put one of her children through college,’ Gartner’s attorney Nicole Churchill said in court yesterday, Y-City News reported. ‘When the drugs were gone, it was going to be over,’ Churchill said. ‘She would go back and be content on cleaning rich people’s toilets.’
However prosecutors disagreed, saying that Gartner and Bair masterminded one of the largest and most obscure drug operations that Licking County has ever seen.
They also said the drug-dealing duo wreaked havoc in central Ohio by selling meth for $6,500 per pound.
The scheme was brought to an end by cops after they set up two separate controlled buys at a car wash in Dresden, where the couple was known to meet buyers.
They were taken into custody after the second sting operation.
A subsequent search of their remote farmhouse home yielded more than $160,000 in cash, at least five pounds of methamphetamine, 50 pounds of marijuana, hundreds of THC vape pens, several ounces of cocaine, psilocybin mushrooms, two vehicles, four ATV’s and three firearms.
An emotional Churchill pleaded with the judge during Gartner’s sentencing hearing Monday as a good mother, hard worker, and someone who just wanted to do what’s best for her family.
Prosecutors said Gartner and Bair masterminded one of the largest and most obscure drug operations the Licking County has ever seen. They also said the drug-dealing duo wreaked havoc in central Ohio by selling meth for $6,500 per pound
Two separate controlled buys were recorded at a car wash in Dresden, where the couple was known to meet buyers. They were taken into custody after the second sting operation. A subsequent search of their remote farmhouse home yielded more than $160,000 in cash (seen above)
‘I would consider Janet a friend, more than a client,’ Churchill told the court through tears, the Zanesville Times Recorder reported.
‘I’ve visited with her more than I probably have any other client in my seven-year career. She was in a severe domestic violence relationship that she finally got herself out of a few years ago. She met someone who was outstanding to her and her family.’
She reiterated that neither Gartner nor Bair were drug users and only devised the scheme to sell drugs to help supplement their incomes to later buy a property and send one of their children to college.
‘I don’t believe anyone wakes up and goes, “You know, I want to sell meth”,’ Churchill said still fighting back tears. ‘They would have had something they’d never had before . . . I believe her when she says when it was over, it would be over.’
An emotional Churchill pleaded with the judge during Gartner’s (left and right) sentencing hearing Monday as a good mother, hard worker, and someone who just wanted to do what’s best for her family
At least five pounds of methamphetamine, 50 pounds of marijuana, hundreds of THC vape pens, several ounces of cocaine, psilocybin mushrooms, two vehicles, four ATV’s and three firearms were also recovered.
However, Judge Mark Fleegle was unmoved by Churchill’s emotive dialogue, sentencing Gartner to 11 years on drug and corruption charges and ordering her to pay a $10,000 fine.
The judge told the defendant that her actions can kill people and destroy lives.
‘That can never be rationalized in my mind,’ Fleegle said.
The judge added that it would be easy to fall back on dealing again if she found herself short on money.
Bair, meanwhile, is expected to return to court to enter a plea on drug charges next month.