A Perry County Grand Jury indicted two people on several drug charges following a fatal overdose investigation by the Perry County Sheriff’s Office.

On August 30, a Perry County Grand Jury indicted Dustin Groff, 28, of New Lexington on one count of aggravated trafficking in heroin, two counts of aggravated trafficking in fentanyl, one count of corrupting another with drugs and one count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, all felonies of varying degrees.

Also indicted was Stephanie Groff, 27, of New Lexington, on one count of aggravated trafficking in fentanyl with a juvenile specification and one count of corrupting another with drugs.

According to the Perry County Sheriff’s Office, on May 4, 2017, deputies were dispatched to an address on Reading Township Road 124 in Somerset on a report of a possible overdose. Upon arrival, they found Megan Lyons, 34, unresponsive in a bathroom. Deputies say they administered CPR and Narcan in an attempt to revive Lyons prior to her transport to the Fairfield Medical Center in Lancaster. 

Investigators say that Lyons was pronounced dead two days later on May 6, 2017. 

According to the Fairfield County Coroner’s Officer, Lyons’ death was an approximate result of an overdose of a mixture of fentanyl and acetl-fentanyl. 

With the cooperation of Lyons’ family, detectives with the Central Ohio Drug Enforcement Task Force and the Perry County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office launched an investigation into the circumstances of Lyons’ death to determine the source of the drugs and were able to identify Dustin Groff and his aunt, Stephanie Groff, as suspects.

Investigators allege that on May 4, 2017, Megan Lyons had approached Stephanie Groff to purchase heroin. Stephanie Groff contacted her nephew, Dustin Groff and brokered the deal between Lyons and Dustin Groff. After Lyons had purchased what she believed to be heroin from Dustin Groff, Lyons returned home where she used the drugs in her bathroom which resulted in her overdose. Drugs found in Lyons’ bathroom were tested and found to be a mixture of Fentanyl and Acetl-Fentanyl.

On September 5, 2018, Task Force Agents and Perry County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Dustin Groff and his girlfriend, Amanda Jo Lax, 23, of Fultonham in Mount Perry. At the time of their arrest, police say that bulk quantities of heroin were found in their vehicle and authorities believe that these drugs were being transported back to Perry County for distribution. They were both booked into the Southeast Ohio Regional Jail on felony drug charges.

According to the Perry County Sheriff’s Office, on September 6, 2018, Stephanie Groff was arrested in New Lexington. 

Court documents say that Dustin Groff and Stephanie Groff were arraigned this week before Judge Tina Boyer in Perry County Common Pleas and entered pleas of not guilty and await trial.  Amanda Jo Lax is scheduled to appear before Judge Dean Wilson in Perry County Municipal Court on September 13.