Former Ashtabula County man who failed to report to prison is found in W.Va

A year-long manhunt for a former Ashtabula County resident ended Sunday in West Virginia with the arrest of Thomas MacWilliams, according to the Trumbull, Ashtabula and Geauga Law Enforcement Task Force.  MacWilliams failed to report for a four-year prison sentence last summer after pleading guilty to reduced charges of complicity to trafficking and complicity to possession of marijuana following a plea agreement, according a prepared statement from TAG.

TAG officials, in conjunction with the West Virginia State Police Bureau of Narcotics, nabbed MacWilliams and girlfriend Darlene Wollschleger in Gillmer County, W.Va., TAG Commander Sgt. Jeff Orr said Wednesday.  "It's a relief that we got him," Orr said. "It's sad we had to put forth such an effort to bring him to justice."  MacWilliams, who formerly resided at 5179 Day Road, New Lyme Township, was first arrested with five others in the summer of 2004 after an investigation by TAG and the Cleveland office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency followed 200 pounds of marijuana from San Diego to Ashtabula County, according to an archived News-Herald story.

Authorities seized more than 900 pounds of marijuana, $76,400 in cash, motor vehicles, motorcycles and a car wash as part of that investigation, TAG's statement said.  After pleading guilty to the aforementioned charges, MacWilliams was given 30 days to report for his sentence, but fled, TAG officials say. He was indicted by the Ashtabula County grand jury on an escape charge, according to TAG.  "At that time, Ashtabula County was facing substantial financial problems," Orr said. "We should have taken his case to trial, but they were understaffed and under funded, so our hand was forced to take the plea agreement."

TAG went almost a year without good intelligence as to MacWilliams' location before receiving information that he was hiding in the woods of West Virginia with two trailers, according to the prepared statement.  Aerial surveillance photos of the area were obtained Friday, and TAG officials were in West Virginia on Sunday.  Investigators from both states, dressed in full camouflage attire and equipment, hiked to the location and participated in an hour of surveillance, according to TAG.

Both subjects were taken into custody without incident on a dirt road between the trailers, TAG's statement said. More than 270 marijuana plants that were growing in one of the trailers were seized, as were a sport-utility vehicle, grow lights, fertilizer, electrical equipment, miscellaneous paperwork and several thousand dollars, TAG said in a statement.  "MacWilliams and his girlfriend Darlene Wollschleger had an elaborate grow operation, and it is suspected that the processed marijuana would have made its way to Ashtabula County," TAG's statement said.  Orr said Wednesday that each marijuana plant is valued at nearly $1,000, leaving authorities with about $270,000 worth of seized marijuana.
Both MacWilliams and Wollschleger are in custody of West Virginia authorities, according to TAG. MacWilliams has an extradition hearing set for the week of May 22, Orr said. Upon returning to Ashtabula County, MacWilliams will be sent directly to the Lorain Correctional Facility to begin serving his sentence, Orr said. MacWilliams and Wollschleger are both facing marijuana cultivation charges in West Virginia, according to TAG.

Federal charges also will be brought against MacWilliams, Orr said.

TAG is pursuing charges on separate individuals based of their aiding and abetting MacWilliams during his year on the run, the task force's statement said. 

"The success of this operation is a tribute to those citizens and law enforcement officers who are interested in improving the quality of life in their neighborhoods by removing drugs and those that sell them and manufacture them from our communities," TAG said in its statement.