Elyria man who allegedly sold drugs that caused fatal overdose charged in federal court

Federal prosecutors have taken over the criminal case of an Elyria man who allegedly sold the drugs that killed another Elyria man last year. Roderick B. Cross Jr. was indicted March 4 in U.S. District Court in Cleveland on six criminal charges. They include one count each of distribution of crack cocaine; distribution of cocaine and fentanyl; death or serious bodily injury resulting from use of controlled substances; possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and possession with intent to distribute para-fluorofentanyl, both with enhanced penalty specifications for a prior serious violent felony conviction; and two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Cross, 34, of Fox Hill Lane, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Thursday. The Federal Public Defender's Office was appointed to represent him. Cross, who according to court records also goes by the nickname "Chubb" or "Chubbs," was being held in federal custody. Charges involving the same case and victim that were filed in August were dismissed Wednesday by the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office in Common Pleas Court. They included involuntary manslaughter; trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound; possession of a fentanyl-related compound; corrupting another with drugs, having weapons under disability; trafficking in heroin; trafficking in cocaine; possession of heroin; possession of cocaine; and possession of criminal tools, along with many specifications. A trial had been scheduled to begin March 23 in Judge Christopher Rothgery's court. The federal charges are likely to carry more serious penalties if Cross is convicted. The Prosecutor's Office said Cross sold the cocaine, heroin and fentanyl that killed 23-year-old Joshua Kroboth on March 15, 2025. All three drugs were found in Kroboth's system after he died. Elyria police used digital and phone evidence to link Cross to the drugs. They seized 164 grams of fentanyl and approximately 6 grams of cocaine from a house were Cross was staying in an April 2025 raid, along with two guns, four phones, $1,880 in cash and drug paraphernalia. The guns will be forfeited to the government if Cross is convicted. Cross is a convicted felon who was on community control in a 2024 criminal case when Kroboth died. He has prior convictions for attempted murder, robbery, felonious assault and weapons charges in Lorain County and was a reputed gang member as a teenager. Cross served eight years in prison for two shootings he committed as a teen, one each in Oberlin in 2007 and Lorain in 2008.Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com