ZANESVILLE, Ohio (WCMH) – A Zanesville man who was found guilty of multiple drug trafficking and possession charges will serve over two decades in prison, while another man arrested during the investigation will serve at least 15 years behind bars for vehicular homicide.
According to the Muskingum County Prosecutor’s Office, Nicholas Schilling was sentenced to 22 years for multiple counts of drug possession and trafficking of a fentanyl-related compound, methamphetamine, and methylphenidate.
Schilling was also found guilty of illegal assembly of chemicals to manufacture drugs and felonious assault involving the use of a firearm. He was found not guilty on two counts of aggravated robbery.
The charges stem from reports of gunfire on May 12, and police receiving a tip the next day that Schilling was the shooter. On May 14, police began to stake out the home and noticed that Colt Lightfoot, wanted for a fatal crash in which he reportedly fatally struck a motorcyclist while under the influence of illegal drugs and fled the scene, had entered the home.
A probable cause search warrant was issued and police found a large bag of narcotics, drug paraphernalia, items used to manufacture drugs, bags filled with white crystals, digital scales and several guns. A second search warrant uncovered a large bag filled with pink powder, believed to be fentanyl.
Also found were bags filled with unknown pills, strips of suboxone, known as a drug used as treatment for opioid addiction, and more bags of crystal-like substances as well as more pink powder, later identified as methamphetamine and fentanyl.
Police eventually found the shooting victim, and although he refused to cooperate with detectives, text messages between the victim and Schilling connected the two regarding the shooting.
Additional text messages tied Schilling with his drug trafficking activities with numerous people.
Schilling, who was also ordered to pay $30,000 in fines and surrender all firearms, has requested a court appointed appeal attorney and filed a motion for grounds for a new trial.
Lightfoot, who served prison time in three other theft and burglary cases as far back as 2002, was arrested, tried and convicted for vehicular homicide. He was sentenced to 11 to 16 1/2 years in prison.
He was also found guilty of two counts of grand theft of a motor vehicle, burglary, receiving stolen property and breaking and entering. For those charges he was sentenced to three terms of 18 months, one term of 12 months and one term of four years.
Those sentences are to run concurrently, but consecutively when paired with his vehicular homicide conviction. Lightfoot's total sentence, therefore, is 15 to 20 1/2 years in prison.
The shooting victim identified in Schilling's case has a record for drug related offenses in Muskingum County Court of Common Pleas, but he was not charged in this incident.
