Columbus man sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for role in conspiracy involving drugs mailed from Arizona

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ontario M. Yarbrough, 26, of Columbus, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 135 months in prison for his involvement in a narcotics conspiracy involving kilogram quantities of drugs being mailed from Arizona to Columbus.

According to court documents, from April until October 2023, Yarbrough received and accepted at least five packages of narcotics. In addition to receiving five packages himself, Yarbrough tracked on the USPS website nine additional packages which were sent from Arizona to Columbus. Yarbrough maintained a property on South Burgess Avenue in Columbus where he received the drugs, re-packaged them and distributed them. One intercepted package contained approximately half a kilogram of fentanyl.

When a search warrant was executed at his home, agents discovered fentanyl, cocaine and firearms.

The defendant was charged by criminal complaint and arrested in October 2023. Yarbrough pleaded guilty in May 2024 to conspiring to distribute and possessing with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Lesley Allison, Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Pittsburgh Division, announced the sentence imposed on Nov. 12 by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Sarah D. Morrison. Assistant United States Attorney Damoun Delaviz is representing the United States in this case.

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