CHARGES ALLEGE DRUG RING LINKS

Police and DEA accuse accountant of working for marijuana smugglers

A lengthy investigation by Akron police and the Drug Enforcement
Administration has resulted in the arrest of a suspected member of an
international marijuana smuggling ring that was uncovered late last year.

Michael S. Danesis, 52, of Cuyahoga Falls, is free on a $100,000 signature
bond after being indicted on numerous felony charges by a Summit County
grand jury last month.

Danesis, an accountant, was indicted Jan. 14 on one count of engaging in a
pattern of corrupt activity, four counts of money laundering and four counts
of forgery.

The indictment also carries a specification of criminal forfeiture, which
means that any proceeds received by Danesis through his alleged criminal
activity are subject to seizure by county authorities, according to the
Summit County prosecutor's office.

Akron Police Capt. Craig Gilbride, head of the department's narcotics and
vice units, said that the suspected involvement of Danesis was uncovered
after four other alleged members of the ring were arrested Dec. 11 and 12
following a two-year investigation by Akron police and DEA agents from
Cleveland.

In what law enforcement officials called the second largest drug bust in
Summit County history, police arrested Billy Maddox, 66, a retired U.S. Army
sergeant who had been working as a reserve deputy for the Houston County
(Tenn.) Sheriff's Department; his wife, Monika, 57; and their alleged
accomplice, Jesus A. Tavizon, 36, of Tucson.

Those three arrests were made after narcotics officers found 226 pounds of
marijuana in tightly packed bags at an Akron residence in the 700 block of
Lindsay Ave. on Dec. 11, according to police.

Rosemarie Keesy, 55, who owned the Lindsay Avenue residence, was arrested
and charged as the fourth alleged member of the ring on Dec. 12.

Also tied to the ring, according to police, were 624 pounds of marijuana
seized by DEA agents at an unspecified location in Morrow County, outside of
Columbus, on Dec. 12.

Jim Hummel, resident agent in charge of the DEA office in Cleveland, said
that many of the marijuana packages, approximately 40 in all, came from
outside the United States.

Using the guise of grandparents visiting the area for the holidays,
investigators said, the Maddoxes, with help from Tavizon, transported the
marijuana bundles to Akron in a motor home with a Mercury Villager van towed
behind it on a trailer.

Danesis, the alleged accountant for the ring, pleaded not guilty when he was
arraigned before county Magistrate John Shoemaker on Jan. 21.

A pretrial hearing for Danesis, before Summit County Common Pleas Judge Jane
Bond, is scheduled for Feb. 17.

The other members of the alleged ring were indicted on charges of engaging
in a pattern of corrupt activity, possession of marijuana and conspiracy to
engage in a pattern of corrupt activity.

Police said the Maddoxes and Tavizon remain in the Summit County Jail and
that Keesy is free on bond.