News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Saturday, September 27, 2025

Zanesville Drug Dealer Admits Guilt, Again

Zanesville, Ohio – Judge Kelly Cottrill kept the Muskingum County Courthouse open for extra hours on Wednesday evening to accept the plea of “no contest” by Jason Tate, 45, of Zanesville.

Tate, who was scheduled to begin trial Thursday morning, lost a motion Wednesday afternoon to suppress the search warrant served on his Harding Road home.

Tate pleaded “no contest” to the following charges:

Count 1: Trafficking in Cocaine with a Major Drug Offender Specification

Count 2: Trafficking in Cocaine with a Major Drug Offender Specification, Firearm Specification, and Forfeiture Specification,

Count 3: Aggravated Trafficking in Drugs Methamphetamine with a Firearm Specification, and Forfeiture Specification

Counts 8-12: Five (5) Counts of Having Weapons Under a Disability; all felonies.

Wednesday afternoon, Judge Cottrill ruled that investigators acted appropriately and with probable cause during a May 12, 2025, raid on Tate’s home. The raid recovered well over a kilogram of cocaine, along with more than 150 grams of methamphetamine.

The methamphetamine recovered from the home was pressed into multi-colored shapes which could have easily been confused for chewable vitamins.

Detectives investigating Tate’s activities also recovered five firearms in Tate’s home. Tate is not permitted to own firearms due to his five (5) prior drug convictions.

Part of the warrant permitted investigators to seize assets, proceeds of drug trafficking and items of value which can be used as alternatives to a bank account to store money or value. For instance, collectables, stamps, jewelry, or in this case Air Jordan shoes. Detectives seized cash, a television, and 90 pairs of shoes as Tate’s drug-dealing profits.

All items were forfeited and will be sold at auction at a later date. Proceeds from forfeited items are placed in a special fund and used to further drug education, prevention, and prosecution.

The list of shoes seized which will be sold in an online auction is attached as a link attached to this release.

Details of the Case:

Tate was charged for selling drugs in an undercover operation on April 17, 2025. During that interaction he sold 112 grams of cocaine to law enforcement in exchange for $2,600 in recorded funds. Tate and his home were captured on audio and video conducting that drug sale to law enforcement.

When Detectives raided his home on May 12, 2025, they found more than $10,000 in cash. Later, they discovered a large number of drugs. Following proper procedure, law enforcement continued searching the home, seizing drugs and drug proceeds.

Tate was charged separately for trafficking the drugs as well as for possessing the drugs. The drug trafficking charge(s) came from Tate engaging in the preparation for the distribution of the drugs, knowing they were for sale or resale by himself or someone else.

The possession charges were dismissed because a person cannot be convicted separately for possessing the drugs and for trafficking the same drugs in their possession.

“This is yet another example of the dedication Zanesville and Muskingum County law enforcement puts into discovering, disrupting, and punishing people poisoning our neighbors with drugs,” according to Assistant Prosecuting Attorney John Litle who handled the case. “The message remains consistent that drug dealing is a violent, dangerous and deadly activity which will never be tolerated in this community.”

“Drug dealers should choose to stop, or to move away,” added Litle. “If not, they will face certain and strict justice in the Muskingum County judicial system.”

Tate will be sentenced at 9:00 AM, Wednesday October 1, 2025.

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