A 21-year-old linked to a drug ring involving two former Ohio University football players pleaded guilty to several drug charges in the Athens County Common Pleas Court on Tuesday.
Cory Bohache, an OU student at the time of his arrest, pleaded guilty to an indictment charging one count of trafficking in cocaine, one count of possession of cocaine and one count of trafficking in marijuana.
Athens County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn previously referred to Bohache’s case as “one of the largest” drug busts in Athens city and county history.
Bohache, then a senior studying finance and accounting, was sentenced to two years in prison for the cocaine trafficking charge, which will be followed by five years of community control for the cocaine possession and marijuana trafficking charges, according to a release from Blackburn’s office.
If he violates his community control, Bohache is subject to an additional four years and six months behind bars. Bohache has been incarcerated in the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail since Feb. 25, according to the jail’s booking documents.
However, he could have faced a maximum of 15-and-a-half years in prison and a maximum fine of up to $10,000, according to a previous Post article.
The charges stem from a Jan. 18 drug sale from Bohache’s North Congress St. home, which is within 1,000 feet of Athens Middle School.
He was arrested in February by officials from the Athens County Prosecutors office and the Athens Police Department. The two agencies worked with the OU Police Department in a joint operation during the investigation.
At the arraignment — during which Bohache originally pleaded not guilty — Blackburn, representing the state, said this case was “an undercover drug buy between $1,600 and $1,800” in which Bohache sold about 29 grams of cocaine and more than 14 grams of marijuana to a confidential informant.
A search warrant of Bohache’s home revealed an additional 27 grams of cocaine.
Blackburn said if investigators had found 28 grams of cocaine or more, the felony would have been more severe. He added that cocaine is “pretty close to the top” of the food chain of drugs in the county.
The drug bust also involved former OU football players Lorenzo Fisher and Greg Windham.
Windham, 20, accepted a plea deal Sept. 23 in which he pleaded guilty to his drug charges in order to enter a diversion program rather than face incarceration. Fisher, 22, pleaded guilty Jan. 23 and had a sentencing hearing scheduled for Mar. 24, which was rescheduled, according to court documents.
Although local law enforcement officials recently arrested a Glouster man believed to be the supplier to many nearby drug dealers, Blackburn said there is no indication that the two incidents are connected even though it is possible that there are others in Bohache’s drug ring who have yet to be caught.
Blackburn said that at the sentencing, Bohache “indicated that a large number of OU students” are using drugs, and that “smoking marijuana and drinking underage are one thing, but doing Molly and doing cocaine is on a whole other level,” when it comes to affecting a young person’s life.
