Lorain man charged with with trafficking over 100 grams each fentanyl, cocaine

A Lorain man is facing major drug offense charges for allegedly trafficking in more than 100 grams each of cocaine and a fentanyl-related compound. Zachary Calhoun, 43, was indicted by a Lorain County Common Pleas Grand Jury on Wednesday on nine felony charges stemming from alleged drug trafficking. He was initially arrested on June 12 after Lorain police carried out a search warrant on his home at 1519 E. 31st St. Chief Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Chris Pierre said when police arrived at the home, Calhoun's girlfriend and son exited the residence but Calhoun himself refused. "A drone was sent in and captured (footage of) the defendant flushing bags of suspected narcotics down the toilet," Pierre said. "He eventually exited and refused to speak." Pierre said that police discovered numerous plastic baggies, some of them still in the toilet, which contained myriad pills and other suspected narcotics. The contents of the bags were tested and were found to contain various drugs including heroin, fentanyl, mixes of fentanyl and methamphetamines and cocaine. Calhoun was taken to the Lorain County Jail where he remains on a $1 million bond. The grand jury charged Calhoun with trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound, possession of a fentanyl-related compound, trafficking in cocaine, possession of cocaine, two charges of having weapons under disability, tampering with evidence, receiving stolen property and possessing criminal tools, all felonies. Both trafficking and possession charges carried a "major drug offender" specification, meaning that Calhoun is alleged to have had and intended to sell more than 100 grams each of both cocaine and fentanyl. Pierre said that the major drug offender specification requires the judge to impose the maximum sentence of the felony to which it is connected. Most of the charges against Calhoun carried a firearm specification, meaning Calhoun allegedly had a firearm in his possession during the commission of the crimes. The fentanyl trafficking charge also had a specification for forfeiture of a gun in a drug case, forfeiture of an automobile in a drug case and forfeiture of money in a drug case. This means that police took three guns: a Smith and Wesson .45-caliber handgun, Rock Island revolver and Amadeo Rossi .38 special revolver; two vehicles: a silver 2011 Cadillac sedan and a silver 2013 Ram pickup as well as $12,289 in cash from Calhoun. The grand jury found that all these items were used in Calhoun's alleged trafficking activities. Pierre said that a fourth gun was also found in Calhoun's home, but it was not forfeited because it had been reported missing out of Cleveland. According to court records, the case has been assigned to Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Chris Cook and Calhoun is expected to next appear in court on Monday. Calhoun was convicted of drug trafficking in Lorain County Common Pleas Court once before, in 2010 when he pleaded guilty to trafficking in cocaine and was sentenced to three years of community control. He had multiple violations of his community control terms, records said. In August 2013, Calhoun was convicted of three counts of aggravated burglary, felonious assault, robbery and disrupting public services. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.