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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A Columbus man found guilty of forcing drug addicts into prostitution will serve the rest of his life in prison, but his attorneys have already begun the appeals process.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Ohio, 43-year-old Ricco Maye, accused of leading a drug and sex trafficking ring, was sentenced to life in prison after a jury found him guilty on 14 total charges.
Maye, who faced charges of sex trafficking of children by force (two counts), nine counts of possession with intent to distribute, fraud or coercion, conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, attempt and conspiracy to commit mail fraud, and tampering with a witness, immediately filed an appeal through defense counsel after the sentencing was announced.
During the course of the three-week trial in November 2024, testimony detailed that Maye “used individuals to buy and sell drugs, sell women for sex, and fraudulently apply online for COVID-19 relief funds. Proceeds from all the crimes went to the defendant.”
Beginning in at least 2018, Maye’s drug trafficking organization distributed narcotics to addicts in street-level quantities. He regularly purchased narcotics from supply sources both inside and outside of Ohio and used addicts to help sell the drugs in Columbus. In addition to cash, Maye would accept stolen goods, gift cards, Social Security numbers and other items as payment for the drug.
Maye gave drugs to women for free, court records stated, and later manipulated their addiction by requiring them to earn drug money through prostitution. Maye then provided the means for the women to engage in prostitution – frequently obtaining hotel rooms, having the women driven to the hotels, providing phones and directing internet prostitution ads. Maye collected the prostitution proceeds, enforced specific rules on the women and punished the women through physical violence.
Maye was also found guilty of providing fentanyl which resulted in an overdose death. In November 2018, Maye communicated with the victim in the hours before his death. The victim had been obtaining cocaine from Maye off and on for years and sought to obtain cocaine from him again in this instance but received a fatal dose of fentanyl instead.
The case against Maye also revealed that he used violence against victims as part of overseeing his drug trafficking organization, including “stomping victims out,” smacking them, punching them, breaking their bones and knocking out their teeth.
In addition to the trafficking charges, Maye and other defendants also filed for and received more than $30,000 in fraudulent Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. Maye kept all or a portion of the others’ benefits.
Maye attempted to obstruct the ongoing investigation into his sex trafficking and other criminal activities and conspired to tamper with witnesses. Maye’s obstruction of justice included his directing the threatened murder of a potential government witness.
Three of Maye’s charges, distributing a controlled substance, which resulted in one man’s death, drug trafficking, and sex trafficking by force, come with a maximum sentence of life in prison. The other charges included sentences of an aggregate total of 184 years, all of which are to run concurrently with his life sentences.
The sentencing also included restitution payments of $575,596 to eight separate victims or their families.
Maye was one of 10 people charged in the conspiracy case. The full list includes:
| Name | Also Known As | Age | City |
| Ricco L. Maye | Roscoe | 39 | Columbus |
| Airrika N. Anthony | 33 | Columbus | |
| Nicole L. Groves | Nikki | 32 | Columbus |
| Kevin E. Pearson | 58 | Columbus | |
| Jasmine R. Weather | Jazmine, Jazmyne, Jaz | 23 | Columbus |
| Jacob M. Capan | Jake | 28 | Pickerington |
| Danielle C. Ferguson | Dani | 31 | Columbus |
| Vincent N. Morrow | V | 39 | Columbus |
| Ashleigh A. Davis | Snowflake | 28 | Chillicothe |
| Victor Blake | Slim | 60 | Columbus |
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