A leader of a large-scale conspiracy involving narcotics distribution, sex trafficking, fraud, and money laundering pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court today. The plea agreement includes an agreed sentencing range of 27-30 years in prison.
Patrick M. Saultz, 45, a/k/a/ “White Boy Pat” of Columbus, pleaded guilty to three violations of federal law – conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances within 1,000 feet of an elementary school, conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, and concealment money laundering.
According to court documents, between January 2008 and 2022, the organization brought large quantities of illegal narcotics into Columbus, Ohio, and sold them in and around the Columbus area while simultaneously coercing individuals to engage in sexual activity for profit, from which the organization benefited. Members of the organization trafficked various controlled substances – including fentanyl, cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana, oxycodone, and alprazolam – to individuals in northern Ohio, Columbus, and West Virginia.
“This organization flooded our streets with staggering amounts of illegal drugs,” said Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio. “Investigators calculated that the organization was selling approximately 40 grams of fentanyl per day out of each drug house they oversaw, and a conservative estimate concludes that, in addition, the organization dealt kilogram quantities of cocaine and crack cocaine during the course of its operation as well.”
Saultz acknowledged that he and a co-conspirator co-owned and operated multiple pieces of real estate on the west side. They used money from their illegal activities to buy property, launder the drug proceeds and to further their illegal activities. One of the houses they bought and used for drug-dealing was across the street from Burroughs Elementary School in Columbus.
Court documents also detail how Saultz and numerous other members of the organization ran a sex trafficking operation, coercing women with illegal drugs to engage in prostitution. The women were required to turn the money they received from their prostitution activities over to him and other organization members in return for places to stay, and for more drugs, fueling their addictions further.
The plea agreement requires Saultz to pay restitution to the victims of sex trafficking, and to forfeit his rights to all property seized during the investigation including two cars, a motorcycle, dozens of firearms, a Rolex watch and more than $1.7 million in cash in addition to the real estate.
A federal grand jury initially indicted Saultz along with 10 others in July 2022. A superseding indictment in October 2022 added 13 defendants and added 28 new charges to the narcotics conspiracy, including firearms offenses and an overdose causing serious bodily injury. Charges against the others are still pending.
U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker commended the investigation coordinated by The Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force, formed under the Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission, which includes Columbus Division of Police Chief Elaine Bryant; Angie Salazar, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations; and Orville O. Greene, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Other agencies that have assisted the task force with the investigation include the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, HIDTA Task Force, IRS-Criminal Investigation, FBI, Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations (BCI), Ohio National Guard Counter Drug Task Force, Pickerington Police Department, New Albany Police Department, and the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office SWAT Team. They joined Parker in announcing the pleas entered before U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr.
Assistant United States Attorneys Timothy Prichard and Emily Czerniejewski are representing the United States in this case.
This investigation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about OCDETF can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
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