Five arrested as result of Aug. 13, Lecanto drug raid
Citrus County, Florida - On Friday, August 13, members of the Citrus County Sheriff's Office, Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team and Tactical Impact Unit (TIU) served a search warrant at the residence of Chad Ross, located at 2460 S. Ignot Pt in Lecanto.
During the search, detectives located cocaine, methamphetamine, suboxone, and marijuana, along with numerous items used in distributing illicit narcotics. As a result of the narcotics and other illegal contraband found at the scene and tossed from the vehicle of a Sumter County, FL man who arrived on scene during the search, five people were arrested: Chad Ross, 41, Brian Fahey, 37, Brittany Lettieri, 27, Shannon Spangler, 40, and Mario Farmer, Jr., 23 (of Sumter County, FL).
While detectives were still on scene, a blue Nissan Altima pull onto the property. Detectives recognized the driver as Mario Farmer, Jr., a convicted felon and known drug dealer who resides in Sumter County, FL.
Farmer's extensive criminal history includes 31 felony arrests, which include the sale of cocaine and fleeing from law enforcement officers. A press release stated that many of Farmer's arrests have been violent or involved firearms. The press release stated that there were several Sumter County, FL warrants for Farmer's arrest.
While deputies were attempting to take Farmer into custody, he took off in his vehicle, but his flight was short in duration, with deputies in pursuit. When deputies managed to immobolize his vehicle, and Farmer realized he could not continue his flight using his vehicle, he took off running, but with the assistance of the Marion County Sheriff's Office Aviation Unit and a CCSO K-9 Unit, Farmer was soon taken into custody.
During the pursuit of Farmer's vehicle, officers observed him throwing multiple items from the window of his vehicle that were later recovered and identified as illegal narcotics. Deputies recovered 88.1 grams (about 3 ounces) of methamphetamine, 4 grams of heroin and 8.6 grams of cocaine that Farmer had tossed from the window of his vehicle. Inside Farmer's vehicle and on his person, officers located more than $8,800 in U.S. currency.
Arrests:
Mario Farmer, Jr., 23: trafficking in methamphetamine, trafficking in heroin, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, and fleeing from law enforcement officers in pursuit; $66,000 bond. Farmer was also arrested on the Sumter County warrants.
Chad Ross, 41: possession of a controlled substance; $2,000 bond.
Brian Fahey, 37: possession of drug paraphernalia; $1,000 bond.
Brittany Lettieri, 27: possession of drug paraphernalia; $1,000 bond.
Shannon Spangler, 40: possession of drug paraphernalia; $1,000 bond.
"Drug dealers, beware! If you sell deadly narcotics in our county, you will be arrested," warned Citrus County Sheriff Mike Prendergast. "Criminals like Mario Farmer, Jr. have blatantly disregarded the safety of citizens in both Citrus and Sumter counties. We will not stand for it. Every day, we strive to make Citrus County a safer place to live as we continue our fight against illegal narcotics and the many dangers associated with them."