Federal Drug Charges for Cincinnati Brawl Suspect
Jermaine Mathews, 39, is now facing federal drug charges related to a racially charged brawl in Cincinnati that left a mother unconscious. He has been indicted for conspiring to distribute “more than 40 grams of fentanyl,” according to a Monday press release from officials in the Southern Ohio Region.
In addition to the drug charges, Mathews is accused of running a facility on Kenton Street in Cincinnati for drug trafficking alongside three other co-conspirators. The U.S. Attorney General noted that Matthews has been identified as a key “coordinator” in a violent incident that occurred in downtown Cincinnati on July 26.
Federal agents and local sheriff’s officers re-arrested Mathews on Monday. The brawl reportedly broke out around 3 a.m. outside a nightclub where a woman was celebrating a friend’s birthday, leading to chaotic scenes as a group of men attacked her.
In a concerning video, Alex Chichelbinski, 45, can be seen being verbally assaulted before receiving a slap in the face. The motivations behind the brawl remain unclear, but it escalated quickly into violence, resulting in seven arrests tied to the incident.
During the chaos, Holly, another victim, was nearly killed, shown in footage lying on the ground with blood visible on her face. Her injuries highlight the severity of the altercation.
Mathews was first arrested on August 14 and marks the second arrest related to this assault. Prior to this, Montianez Merriweather, 34, faced federal charges on August 13 for illegally possessing a firearm due to previous felony convictions.
In a turn of events, Chichelbinski, injured during the fight, was later charged with disorderly conduct, raising eyebrows amid public outrage surrounding the incident.
