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Tuesday, May 20, 2025

John Litle Voted Assistant Prosecutor of the Year by Colleagues

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney John Litle was voted 2024 APA of the Year by the staff and attorneys at the Muskingum County Prosecutor’s Office during the office’s annual meeting.

Muskingum County Prosecutor Ron Welch commented “Assistant Prosecuting Attorney (APA) John Litle is an exceptional prosecutor with a professional record nothing short of stellar. During his prosecution career, he has given endlessly to provide for justice, public safety and the widespread improvement of Muskingum County. John’s integrity, determination, mentorship and dedication to pursuing justice set him out as a model for other prosecutors.”

Welch further added “More than being an exceptional prosecutor, John is an exceptional person. In addition to the time he spends professionally making our community a better place, he also privately serves as a volunteer on several boards and committees whose goals are to make Muskingum a better place for everyone to live.”

APA Litle was born and raised in Muskingum County. He graduated from Rosecrans High School, attended college at Notre Dame and then law school at Ohio State. After a successful stint at the Franklin County prosecutor's office, John moved back to Muskingum County after being recruited to fill a vacancy in 2014.

John came home with the enthusiastic purpose of targeting endemic crime in Zanesville, and he continues to enjoy prosecuting criminals to this day.

“John was recruited to our office because of his dedication to justice and his exceptional prosecutorial skills. He was hired here to make our community safer with a focus on major drug dealers, drug trafficking, violent crime, and organized criminal activity. John has done an exceptional job in each of those areas. Muskingum County is safer every day because of John Litle,” according to Prosecutor Ron Welch, who recruited Litle ten years ago.

John’s track record as a prosecutor is impressive. His time in Muskingum County has been exceptional. John’s success is appreciated and applauded by our law abiding citizens. The history of many of John’s major prosecutions can be seen in the sidebar attachment.

Like every other year John had a busy and successful 2024.

One of the major drug investigations of 2023 that was wrapped up in 2024 involved Michael "Trigg" McClain and Colton Chase Vinyard. Drug unit detectives built a case over many months, and Litle handled the prosecution. Like the Deangelo "D-Lo" Tellis case detailed in the linked history to the right, detectives were never actually able to catch “Trigg” McClain holding narcotics. They were able to build a strong enough case using communications, records, and other information that Litle was able to obtain a conviction and a fifteen (15) year sentence on McClain. Nukiyus "Cabo" Simpson's local drug operation also fell, resulting in an eleven (11) year sentence.

Once again, the message to those committing crimes in Zanesville was that crime would not be tolerated; and specifically, when it comes to drug, conspiracy, or gang crime, APA Litle would be involved in the prosecution of the case.

Another of John’s important cases saw resolution in early 2024. All the way back in In the beginning of 2022 the family of Corey Anderson reached out to the prosecutor’s office hoping to find justice for Corey’s death. John met with the family early on and assisted them in getting in touch with local detectives to put together a prosecutable case. The work finally resulted in the prosecution of Corey Anderson’s wife, Keyle Anderson, who had videotaped Corey’s death rather than helping him during an overdose. Litle’s prosecution of Keyle resulted in a substantial prison sentence on a difficult case and later resulted in a successful appeal protecting Corey’s family’s right to be heard in court for sentencing.

In 2024 Litle continued his work with the Zanesville / Muskingum County drug unit in pursuing narcotics conspiracy cases. In 2024, this involved cases against popular local crime figures Codey Starkey, Chiquita Rush, Kymm Chandler, and others whose cases have not yet come to trial. Starkey will serve twenty (20) years in prison, Rush will serve fourteen (14) years, while Chandler will serve six to nine years following Litle's prosecution.

Additional important cases Litle prosecuted in 2024 resulted in prison for Antonio Johnson (15 years) for a drug house shooting after which Tamara Spraggins (2 years) drove him away from the crime, Alexander Fowler (10+ years) who attacked a woman in her home after an evening on the town, and prison for Cassie Lecce who lied repeatedly to the Muskingum County Grand Jury in an effort to benefit her drug-dealer boyfriend.

Litle also took on a wide-ranging prosecution of a criminal conspiracy to smuggle drugs into Ohio’s prison system. The case resulted in the prosecution of fifteen total defendants for their involvement in smuggling poison into the prison system.

In the spring of 2024, Litle brought to conclusion the prosecution of Deborah Frazier, who murdered her boyfriend Thomas Waddell and then faked a home-invasion, going so far as to shoot herself in the leg to sell the story. Frazier pled guilty to murder and received a life sentence in prison.

In the fall, Litle took on one of the toughest cases in his career - the shooting case involving Jonathan Conkle, a Westerville man, who shot well-known and respected businessman J.J. Jasper for no reason whatsoever. Two of the three psychologists involved in the case concluded that Conkle was insane at the time he committed his crimes, and the circumstances demonstrated there was no rational rhyme or reason to his actions.

APA Litle spent nearly two weeks secluded in a trial preparation room until he had discovered the identities of four individual Bonnaroo, Tennessee, music festival attendees who could testify that Conkle was using hallucinogenic mushrooms and high-THC marijuana at the festival, leading to his psychotic break. This hard-fought development defeated the defense's claim of legal insanity. Conkle will now serve twenty (20) years in prison.

Towards the end of the year, Litle handled the cases of Pedro Garcia, and illegal aliens Rafael Flores-Hernandez and Reyes Flores Higuera who operated a nationwide jewelry theft conspiracy and were ultimately caught through excellent law enforcement cooperation including the Muskingum County Sheriff’s Office, the Zanesville Police Department, and the Forsythe, Georgia Sheriff’s office. The men will serve thirty-nine (39) total years for the jewelry store burglary scheme as a result of being caught and prosecuted in Muskingum County

Prosecutor Welch concluded by saying “John Litle is an asset to this community, and we are fortunate to have him.”

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