AO 106 (Rev. 04/10) Application for a Search Warrant 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

In the Matter of the Search of 

(Briefly describe the property to be searched or identify the person bY name and address) 

3296 E. 7th Avenue, Apartment C, 

Columbus, Ohio 43219 

for the 

Southern District of Ohio 

APPLICATION FOR A SEARCH WARRANT 

I, a federal law enforcement officer or an attorney for the government, request a search warrant and state under 

penalty of perjury that I have reason to believe that on the following person or property (identify the person or describe the 

prpperty to be searched and give its location): 

3296 E. 7th Avenue Columbus, Ohio 43219 

located in the ~~~~~~~ 

Southern District of ~~~~~~~~~~-Ohio , there is now concealed (identify the 

person or describe the property to be seized): 

Narcotics, Narcotics proceeds, and any records, receipts, notes, ledgers, vehicle rental receipts, money orders, airline 

tickets, and other records related to the receipt, and sales of narcotics. See Attachment B 

The basis for the search under Fed. R Crim. P. 41(c) is (check one or more): 

~evidence of a crime; . 

rt/ contraband, :fi:Uits of crime, or other items illegally possessed; 

0 property designed for use, intended for use, or used in committing a crime; 

0 a person to be an-ested or a person who is unlawfully restrained. 

The search is related to a violation of: 

Code Section 

21 u.s.c. 841 

21 u.s.c. 846 

Offense Description 

Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance. 

Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance 

The application is based on these facts: 

See Attached Affidavit. 

~ Continued on the attached sheet. 

0 Delayed notice of __ days (give exact ending date if more than 30 days: ) is requested 

under 18 U.S.C. § 3103a, the basis of which is set forth on the attached sheet. 

,kP ~~ ti. lm?.. 

Printed name and title 

Sworn to before me and signed in my presence. 

Date: 12/01/2017 

City and state: Columbus Ohio 

Printed name and title 

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AFFIDAVIT FOR SEARCH WARRANT 

This affidavit incorporates by reference the assertions stated in the affidavit in support of the 

search warrant executed on December 1, 2017 at Stor All Self Storage unit #496 located at 

4060 E Main St Columbus Ohio 43213 in the Southern District of Ohio. 

I. 

INTRODUCTION 

1. I am a Columbus Ohio Police officer assigned as a Task Force Officer with the Bureau 

of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. The Columbus Division of Police has employed me 

since 2007. My responsibilities as a Task Force Officer include the investigation of 

violent criminal street gangs, narcotics traffickers, money launders, firearm-related 

crimes, an various illegal income generating schemes. I have participated in the 

execution of search warrants and arrests related to the above-referenced offenses. 

2. I have conducted covert surveillance, interviewed numerous individuals, been a 

member of surveillance teams, participated in the execution of numerous state and 

federal search and arrest warrants involving firearm and/or illegal narcotic traffickers 

and violent offenders, and participated in the seizure of numerous firearms and 

controlled dangerous substances. 

3. The facts in this affidavit come from my personal observations, my training and 

experience, and information obtained from police officers, Ohio State Highway Patrol 

investigators, and investigative subpoenas. This affidavit is intended to show merely 

that there is sufficient probable cause for the requested warrant and does not set forth 

all of my knowledge about this matter. 

4. Based on the facts set forth in this affidavit, there is probable cause to believe that inside 

of 3296 E 7th Ave Apt C Columbus Ohio 43219 there exists evidence of violations of 

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Title 21 U.S.C. 841, possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance, and 

Title 21 U.S.C. 846 conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute a controlled 

substance. 

5. I have not included all of the information relevant to the investigation in this affidavit, 

but I do not believe that I have omitted any information that would have a tendency to 

defeat a showing of probable cause. To the best of my knowledge and belief, all 

statements made in this affidavit are true and correct. 

II. 

PURPOSE OF AFFIDAVIT 

This affidavit is submitted for the limited purpose of establishing probable cause 

in support of an application of a warrant to search 3296 E 7th Ave Apt C Cohμnbus Ohio 

43219 therefore contains only a summary of the relevant facts. I have not included each 

and every fact that I, or others, have learned during the course of this investigation. The 

information set forth in this affidavit is based on my own participation in the 

investigation, information I have received from other law enforcement officials and from 

my other agents' analysis of documents and records relating to this investigation. As one 

of the case agents on this investigation, I am familiar with the investigative efforts of 

other agents/Columbus Police Detectives who have worked on this investigation. 

Further, I am familiar with the evidence gathered through the issuance of state search 

warrants and information provided to myself and other agents by cooperating individuals 

and informants. 

I believe there exists sufficient probable cause that evidence of the violations: 

21 U.S.C. § 841 (Possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance) and 21 

U.S.C. ·846 (Conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute a controlled substance) 

exists and can be found at the following location: 

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a. 3296 E 7th Ave Apt C Columbus Ohio 43219. 

III. 

ITEMS TO BE SEIZED 

Narcotics, narcotics proceeds, and any records, receipts, notes, ledgers, vehicle 

rental receipts, negotiable instruments, currency, money orders, airline tickets, and other 

records and items related to the receipt, possession, sales, and conspiracy to possess with 

the intent to distribute, narcotics. I believe that there is probable cause to believe that the 

listed items will be in 3296 E 7th Ave Apt C Columbus Ohio 43219. 

IV. 

INVESTIGATION 

Investigators were informed by a cooperating source (CS) that Floyd Williams and 

Douglas Berry both sell between 10-15 kilos of cocaine a month in the Columbus Ohio 

area. The CS stated that the narcotics are shipped in from California and then distributed 

in Columbus Ohio. The CS stated when they move narcotics they travel in convoys of 

two - three vehicles. 

On November 30th 2017 at approximately 3:10 p.m. investigators utilizing 

surveillance techniques observed Douglass BERRY enter the code to enter the controlled 

access gate for Stor All Self Storage located at 4060 E Main St Columbus Ohio 43213 

which is a multiunit storage facility. Investigator have been involved in a narcotics 

investigation involving BERRY and other individuals. BERRY is currently on Federal 

supervised release for a previous narcotics conviction. After leaving the storage unit 

BERRY returned to his home of 8789 Linick Dr, Reynoldsburg, Ohio 43068. A vehicle 

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commonly used by BERRY then left his home and went to 7743 Astra Circle, 

Reynoldsburg, Ohio. 

On December 1, 2017, investigators contacted Ohio State Patrol Trooper Matt 

Ruth and his trained narcotics alerting K-9 Katie. Trooper Ruth deployed K-9 Katie near 

a shared hallway which consisted of approximately six distinct storage units at the Stor 

All facility at 4060 E. Main St., Columbus, Ohio 43213. Katie made an immediate 

positive narcotics alert on unit #496 at approximately 11 :36 a.m. 

On December 1, 2017 at approximately 4:02 p.m. investigators executed a search 

warrant on Stor All Self Storage unit 496 located at 4060 E Main St Columbus Ohio 

43213. Inside investigators found two large wooden boxes with shipping labels. The 

labels showed that the boxes weighed 560 lbs and had been shipped from California to 

Columbus. Also found inside the unit were tools to open the boxes and p_ackaging for two 

rolling duffel bags, one gray and one black. Investigators removed the boxes and their 

packaging from the storage unit and spread them apart in an open area. Officer of J 

Hartman of the Columbus Airport Police and her K-9 Daron arrived. Officer Hartman 

deployed Daron. Daron alerted to the inside of one of the empty wooden boxes. 

On the morning of December 1, 2017 investigators utilized surveillance techniques 

and observed an individual known to ~nvestigators as Floyd WILLIAMS leaving 7743 

Astra Circle at approximately 11:49 a.m. WILLIAMS left as part of a two-car convoy. 

WILLIAMS went to 3296 E 7th Ave Columbus Ohio 43219 at approximately 12:08 p.m. 

WILLIAMS exited his vehicle and entered APT C with a large grey duffle bag at 

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approximately 12:10 p.m. WILLIAMS was observed outside of the apartment at 12:13 

p.m. at without the grey duffel bag but with a red bag which he threw into a dumpster. 

Investigators later retrieved the red bag and it contained wrappings and packaging 

consistent with drug trafficking (commonly known as "kilo wrappers"). Previously, on 

or about November 6, 2017, at a house associated with WILLIAMS, law enforcement 

officers located a quantity of suspected black tar heroin in a small plastic baggy, two 

money counting machines, and next to one of the money counting machines, a large bag 

of small size rubber bands commonly used to tie off small baggies used for drugs. 

On December 1, 2017, investigators utilized surveillance techniques observed and 

identified an individual known to investigators as Wydell COBB exiting and reentering 

the apartment at 3296 E. 7th Ave Columbus Ohio 43219. Previously, on or about 

September 1st 2017, investigators executed a search warrant at 1162 Zebulon Ave 

Columbus Ohio 43224 as part of this investigation. Prior to the execution of the search 

warrant COBB arrived in a vehicle with an individual known to investigators as Chad 

TUBBS. Found inside the vehicle during the execution of the search warrant were a 

stolen handgun approximately $5,513.00 in US currency and approximately a half kilo of 

cocaine. 

v. 

CONCLUSION 

Through my experience and my discussions with other experienced law enforcement 

officers, I am familiar with the ways in which narcotics traffickers conduct their business,. 

including, but not limited to, their methods of obtaining, importing, storing and 

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distributing narcotics, conspiring with other individuals to traffic narcotics, and their 

methods of laundering the proceeds of their illegal activities. I am familiar with the 

methods, schemes, and operations used by major narcotics traffickers and know: 

a. It is my experience that narcotics traffickers routinely store and move 

narcotics and associated indicia of narcotics trafficking between 

residential locations and commercially paid storage facilities in the names 

of fictitious individuals and real individuals with falsely listed addresses. 

b. It is my experience that narcotics traffickers routinely enlist other 

individuals to assist in the distribution of narcotics and frequently discard 

narcotics paraphernalia and wrappings near the locations where narcotics 

are stored. 

c. It is my experience that currency transactions that are conducted enable 

drug traffickers to invest the cash proceeds of their illicit businesses into 

an asset, thereby legitimizing the currency. 

d. That narcotics traffickers are known to trade drugs for items of monetary 

value; 

e. That some narcotics traffickers conduct various transactions, including the 

purchase of vehicles and real estate, in order to create an appearance that 

their income is derived from legitimate sources. 

f. That narcotics traffickers must maintain, on hand, large amounts of United 

States currency .in order to maintain and finance their ongoing narcotics 

trafficking business; 

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g. That narcotics traffickers maintain books, records, receipts, notes, ledgers, 

and other papers relating to the sale of controlled substances, firearms, and 

the purchases of assets, including vehicles and real estate and other 

financial instruments; 

h. That the aforementioned books, records, receipts, notes, ledgers, etc., are 

commonly maintained where the narcotics traffickers have ready access to 

them, i.e., homes, businesses, and automobiles. 

i. That it is common for narcotics traffickers to secrete contraband, proceeds 

of narcotics sales, and records of narcotics transactions, sources, and 

customers, in secure locations within their residences, businesses, garages, 

storage buildings, and safety deposit boxes for ready access, and also to 

conceal such items from law enforcement authorities; 

j. That persons involved in such trafficking and laundering conceal caches of 

firearms, narcotics, large amounts of currency, financial instruments, 

precious metals, jewelry, other items of value and/or proceeds of drug 

transactions, and evidence of financial transactions relating to obtaining, 

transferring, secreting, or spending large sums of money made from 

engaging in narcotics trafficking activities, in their residences, businesses, 

garages, storage buildings, automobiles, and safety deposit boxes; 

k. That narcotics traffickers commonly maintain addresses or telephone 

numbers in books, papers, pagers, or cellular phones (and often have 

multiple cellular phones and pagers) which reflect names, addresses, 

and/or telephone numbers for their associates in the trafficking 

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organization, even if said items may be in code; 

L That narcotics traffickers frequently take, or cause to be taken, 

photographs of themselves, their associates, their property, and their 

product, and that these traffickers usually maintain these photographs in 

their residences, businesses, and automobiles; 

m. That when narcotics traffickers amass large monetary proceeds from the 

sale of narcotics, they attempt to legitimize these profits by utilizing 

foreign and domestic banks and their attendant services, including 

securities, cashier's checks, money drafts, letters of credit, brokerage 

houses, real estate, shell corporations, business fronts and other methods; 

n. That narcotics traffickers sometimes store documents and records relating 

to their narcotics suppliers, customers, money, and assets on computer 

hardware and software, the contents of which frequently yield evidence of 

trafficking and money laundering crimes; 

o. That courts have recognized that unexplained wealth is probative evidence 

of criminal activity in which transactions involving large amounts of cash 

and high profit margins are common, including trafficking in controlled 

substances; 

p. That it is common for narcotics traffickers and money launderers to 

conceal and store items related to their narcotics trafficking and money 

laundering within safes, footlockers, boxes, containers and other hidden 

compartments, and within places that they own or over which they 

exercise control such as residences, businesses, and automobiles. 

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q. Individuals who possess narcotics store them and associated 

acquisition/disposition documents at their residences, businesses, and/or in 

their vehicles; 

In view of the above mentioned facts and my training and experience in the investigation of 

narcotics and financial crimes, I have probable cause to believe that contained at 3296 E 7th 

Ave Apt C Columbus Ohio 43219 is evidence of: 

a. 21 U.S.C. § 841 Possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. 

b. 21 U.S.C. § 846 Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute a Controlled 

Substance 

Accordingly, I respectfully request that the Court issue the following: 

(a) A Search Warrant for 3296 E 7th Ave Apt C Columbus Ohio 43219 .. 

(b) Authority to execute the Search Warrant at any time of day that law 

enforcement deems necessary. 

( c) An Order sealing the Application, Affidavit, and Search Warrant until 

further Order of this Court. 

FURTHERAFFIANTSAYETHNAUGHf 

~~tJ25lf'l ATF Task Force Officer 

Samuel Chappell 

Sworn to before me, and subscribed in my presence, on this 1 (') + day of December 

2017, at Columbus, Ohio. 

~@~ TeHorumtlJieIGmly A. Jolson 

United States Magistrate Judge 

Southern District of Ohio 

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ATTACHMENT A 

Premises to be Searched 

The premise to be searched is 3296 E 7th Ave Apt C Columbus Ohio 43219. The unit is" 

is clearly marked with "C" beside the front door. The front door is green. 

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ATTACHMENT B 

Items to be Seized 

I . All records and other documents related to the possession, storage, sale, and 

delivery of illegal controlled substances. 

2. Books, records, receipts, notes, ledgers, or electronic data relating in any way to the 

possession, storage, sale, and delivery of illegal controlled substances. 

3. Cash, currency, stored value cards, cashier's checks, and records relating to income 

and expenditures of money and wealth from illegal controlled substances, to wit, 

money order, wire transfer and cashier's check receipts, and bank statements, 

passbooks, checkbooks, check registers, safe deposit boxes and storage units and 

associated keys and records of such ownership, stored value cards and access 

devices, and safes and associated keys and records of such ownership. 

4. Indicia of occupancy, residency, and ownership or use of the use of the subject 

premises, including, but not limited to, purchase or lease agreements, identification 

documents, and keys. 

5. Address and/or telephone books, rolodex indicia, electronic organizers, telephone 

paging devices and the memory thereof and any papers, records or electronic data 

reflecting names, addresses, telephone numbers, and social media monikers of 

sources of drug supply or drug customers. 

6. Controlled substances and drug paraphernalia, including chemical dilutants, 

firearms and other weapons, ammunition, weighing scales, mixing bowls, glassine 

bags, spoons, and other items utilized in the weighing and packaging of illegal 

controlled substances. 

7. Computers, tablets, external electronic storage media (such as external hard drives 

and computer disks) and other associated equipment and accessories necessary to 

examine and record data stored in said computers and storage media (such as 

monitors, printers, external drives, and other peripherals) associated with tracking 

the possession, storage, sale, and delivery of illegal controlled substances. 

8. Cell phones or purchase receipts for such items. 

9. Photographs of known targets including BERRY, WILLIAMS, and COBB. 

All of which constitute fruits, evidence and/or instrumentalities of violations of Title 21, 

United States Code, Sections 841 and 846. 

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