Suspect admits to selling meth throughout southern Ohio: court docs

CINCINNATI (WXIX) – A 26-year-old Cincinnati man is expected to return to federal court Tuesday after admitting to agents he sells methamphetamine throughout southern Ohio and surrounding areas, court records show.

Jay’lin Bankhead is charged in a federal complaint with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, according to his criminal complaint filed Monday.

He made his initial court appearance that day with a public defender.

U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Karen L. Litkovitz ordered Bankhead to return for a bail hearing at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, court records show.

He was held overnight at the Butler County Jail, according to the jail docket.

Bankhead has been under investigation by the FBI, Warren County Drug Task Force and Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office Regional Enforcement Narcotics Unit (RENU) since the fall of 2023 as well as “other known and as-yet-unknown co-conspirators (the ‘Bankhead DTO’) for drug and firearm trafficking,” an FBI agent wrote in his criminal complaint Monday.

“Through the course of the investigation, agents have conducted multiple controlled buys of lab-confirmed methamphetamine and/or “Glock Switch” machine gun conversion devices directly from Bankhead and other members of the ‘Bankhead DTO.’”

A March search warrant issued for the iCloud account associated with his telephone number “revealed numerous text messages, photos, and other evidence confirming that Bankhead bought and sold Glock Switches, as well as large quantities of methamphetamine for distribution,” the complaint shows.

On June 3, federal magistrate judges authorized several federal search warrants for various properties associated with the suspects including Bankhead’s primary vehicle, a gray 2019 Land Rover Range Rover Velar, which was painted blue two days later, according to court records.

On Friday, agents observed Bankhead travel in the Range Rover from Cincinnati to Dayton “where agents believe Bankhead sources his methamphetamine,” the FBI agent wrote in the complaint.

Bankhead began traveling back to Cincinnati on southbound Interstate 75. Acting on the June 3 search warrant for his Range Rover, agents conducted a traffic stop.

They spotted a clear plastic bag in plain view inside the SUV. They later seized the bag and determined it held roughly one pound of a substance that field-tested positive for meth, court records show.

During an interview after being advised of his Miranda rights, Bankhead “admitted that bag of methamphetamine recovered inside his Range Rover was his, and admitted that he sells methamphetamine throughout the Southern District of Ohio and surrounding areas,” an FBI agent wrote in the court document.

FOX19 NOW has reached out to his public defender for comment.

We will update this story when we hear back.

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