Final fugitives charged as part of ‘Operation Fly City’ enforcement operation arrested

DAYTON, Ohio - The final of four fugitives charged in June as part of "Operation Fly City" were arrested by federal agents yesterday evening.

U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II announced on June 22 with federal law enforcement partners the results of an eight-week operation to fight gun violence and drug trafficking in Dayton. Forty-seven defendants face federal charges.

During the operation, which began on April 27, agents seized 176 firearms, as well as machinegun conversion devices and kilogram quantities of fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine.

At the time of the announcement, four defendants remained at large: Isaiah Chancellor, 25, of Dayton; Anthony Scott, 23, of Dayton; Eucelf Taste Sr., 46, of Trotwood; and Eucelf Taste Jr., 22, of Dayton.

Father and son Taste Sr. and Taste Jr. were arrested yesterday by officials with the Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team (SOFAST), which is led by the United States Marshals Service. SOFAST arrested Taste Sr. and Taste Jr. in the parking lot of a business complex in Oakwood.

Taste Jr. allegedly sold fentanyl and a machinegun to undercover officers. He told officers he was a member of the 41 Boyz, a violent drug trafficking organization that law enforcement knows to offer protection services to other drug dealers. Charging documents detail that Taste Jr. allegedly offered these services to undercover officers, saying he and others would willingly provide armed security at a five-kilogram drug deal. Taste Jr. allegedly showed up to the purported deal site on June 9, armed, and brought with him two other associates who were also armed.

Taste Jr. also allegedly discussed his father, saying his father was a major drug trafficker with direct drug connections to Mexico.

Taste Sr. allegedly received kilograms of narcotics every month from his drug source. The son showed undercover officers a June 8 photo of his father holding up a trash bag purportedly filled with half a million dollars in cash from drug sales. Through an introduction from Taste Jr., Taste Sr. then allegedly sold a kilogram of fentanyl to an undercover officer.

The two other fugitives were taken into custody last month. Chancellor was arrested June 23. He is charged with conspiring to distribute fentanyl and distributing 40 grams or more of fentanyl. Scott, who was arrested on June 30, is charged with conspiring to possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of fentanyl and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

The charges against all 47 defendants were brought via 20 federal indictments and three federal criminal complaints. Indictments and criminal complaints merely contain allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

Deputy Criminal Chief Brent G. Tabacchi, Assistant Deputy Criminal Chief Amy M. Smith, Assistant United States Attorneys Kelly K. Rossi, Elizabeth L. McCormick, Rob Painter, Brendan Sullivan, Erica D. Lunderman, Christina E. Mahy and Ryan A. Saunders and Special Assistant United States attorney Allison Oswall are representing the United States in these cases.

These cases are part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Cincinnati comprises agents and officers from federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.

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