Cleveland Man Sentenced to 22+ Years in Prison For Conspiracy to Traffic Meth from U.S.-Mexico Border to Ohio

CLEVELAND - A 43-year-old man was sentenced to prison for his role in a conspiracy that trafficked illegal drugs sourced from Mexico and mailed to Ohio through the U.S. Postal Service.

Sherman Thomas, of Cleveland, was sentenced to 275 months (22.9 years) in prison by U.S. District Judge J. Philip Calabrese. After a 4-day trial in June 2025, a federal jury convicted Thomas of:

• Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances
• Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine
• Using or Maintaining a Drug Premises
• Possession of Firearms and Ammunition by a Convicted Felon; prior convictions include Aggravated Robbery in 2001, Trafficking Offenses, Having Weapons under Disability and Carrying a Concealed Weapon in 2009.

Thomas was also ordered to serve a lifetime of supervised release after imprisonment.

According to court documents, the conspiracy ran from about July 2022 through April 2023. Thomas, along with several co-conspirators, obtained drugs from Mexico to press into illicit pills for distribution. Co-defendant, Melvin Hodge, 44 of Sagamore Hills, would contact individuals in Mexico and then travel to the U.S.-Mexico border to obtain methamphetamine and send it through the United States mail. When the methamphetamine arrived in the Northern District of Ohio, Hodge met with another co-conspirator-a U.S. postal carrier-who provided addresses to allow for the safe passage of the methamphetamine through his postal route. The postal carrier then informed Hodge of the locations where the parcels could be retrieved. After receiving the package from the postal carrier, Hodge would provide the methamphetamine to Thomas.

As part of his role in the conspiracy, Thomas maintained a drug premises on Reyburn Road, where he had an industrial pill press which he used to produce illegal pills. He then stored the narcotics at his residence on Father Caruso Drive. In September 2022, federal agents executed a search warrant at Thomas' residence. During a protective sweep of the home, a bedroom window was found open with the screen laying outside on the ground. While no one was in the apartment at the time of the search, multiple witnesses testified at trial that it appeared that Thomas had dropped from the window, appeared hurt, and ran from the apartment when agents arrived to execute the warrant. Agents seized the following contents from the apartment:

• 4.1 grams of methamphetamine
• 22 bags containing multicolored pills that were locked in a safe, containing approximately 4,193.5 grams of methamphetamine
• Three plastic bags with white powder containing 412 grams of methamphetamine
• A Glock 23 with an extended magazine loaded with 18 rounds of .40 caliber ammunition
• A narcotics ledger, several cellphones, a kilogram pill press, and a money counter.

Agents also searched Thomas' stash house on Reyburn Road and seized several large bags of a pill binding agent, a rifle, and another pill press machine.

Two co-conspirators were previously sentenced for their roles in the conspiracy. Hodge is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence. Carvin Cook, 46, of Cleveland, Ohio, was sentenced to 41 months (3.41 years) in prison.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration-Detroit Division, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Cleveland Metroparks Police Department, the Cleveland Heights Police Department, and the Summit County Sheriff's Office.

The USAO would also like acknowledge the support and assistance of the United States Marshals Service in this case.

Assistant United States Attorneys Elizabeth M. Crook and James P. Lewis led the prosecution for the Northern District of Ohio.