Sardinia man sentenced on drug trafficking charge
A Sardinia man already serving prison time for a Clinton County case was sentenced recently to another three years in connection with a Highland County drug trafficking charge.
Aaron Reuss, 51, was indicted by a Highland County grand jury in March 2025 on two counts of aggravated trafficking in methamphetamine in the vicinity of a school zone, both second-degree felonies; three counts of aggravated possession of methamphetamine, all third-degree felonies; and one count of aggravated trafficking in methamphetamine, a third-degree felony. The indictment remained secret until Reuss was served with the indictment in July 2026.
According to court records, Reuss pleaded guilty Oct. 7 to one count of aggravated trafficking in methamphetamine in the vicinity of a school zone, with the remaining five charges dismissed.
For that charge, it is alleged that on or about June 12, 2024, Reuss “did knowingly sell or offer to sell” meth “in an amount that equals or exceeds bulk amount but is less than five times the bulk amount in the vicinity of a school zone.”
After accepting Reuss’s guilty plea, Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss sentenced Reuss to a mandatory sentence of three years in prison. Under the Reagan Tokes Law, Reuss could serve up to four and a half years in prison.
Reuss was also ordered to pay $303 in restitution, joint and several with a co-defendant.
The three-year sentence was ordered to be served consecutively to a previously imposed sentence in Clinton County Common Pleas Court. In April, Reuss pleaded guilty to an amended second-degree felony count of aggravated possession of drugs and a third-degree felony charge of failure to comply with the order or signal of a police office, according to court records. He was sentenced by Judge Andrew McCoy to a minimum of four years and maximum of five years in prison.
Reuss has been incarcerated in the Chillicothe Correctional Institution since May 13, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.