A man who already is facing state charges in connection with the July 26 Downtown brawl has been indicted on unrelated federal drug charges, officials announced.
Jermaine Mathews, 39, is accused of conspiring with others to distribute fentanyl, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Mathews also is charged with using a home in Walnut Hills to traffic drugs.
He was arrested Aug. 25 by federal agents and members of a Hamilton County drug task force, officials said. His attorney, Brandon Fox, declined to comment, saying he hadn't yet seen the indictment.
Mathews was named by Cincinnati police as being one of two people who "coordinated" a fight on Fourth Street on July 26, which then escalated into a brawl. A detective said at a court hearing that Montianez Merriweather walked up to Mathews, whispered something to him, before Merriweather then struck someone in the face.
Both Mathews and Merriweather, according to the detective, chased the man until he was on the pavement and began punching and kicking him. The detective said Mathews can be seen on video kicking the man in the face and chest before moving on to attack someone else.
Fox has previously said that Mathews doesn't even know Merriweather. Fox said Mathews was standing on a street corner in front of his business vehicle when a fight broke out on the sidewalk. Mathews tried to break up the fight, Fox said, and when he returned, a man was kicking the vehicle. When Mathews went to confront the man, the man slapped him in the face, Fox said.
That man, 45-year-old Alex Tchervinski, was charged more than three weeks after the brawl with disorderly conduct, a low-level misdemeanor.
Mathews, Merriweather and four others are charged with aggravated riot and felonious assault. The seventh suspect in the brawl is only charged with felonious assault.
Mathews had posted bond in the brawl case and was out of jail when he was arrested on the federal drug charges. Three other Cincinnati men have been charged in the federal case.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Downtown Cincinnati brawl suspect now facing federal drug charges
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