Nick McWilliams reporting – A long-standing effort by the Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office to imprison a known drug tracker has come to an end.
A release from Sheriff Orvis Campbell notes the long investigation and eventual arrest of William H. Gibbs.
Starting in May of 2021, deputies in coordination with the LEAD Drug Task Force, and police departments from New Philadelphia, Canton, and Akron executed a search warrant on 5th Street.
During the search, law enforcement recovered a substantial amount of narcotics, drug instruments and paraphernalia, and more than a dozen firearms, four of which were stolen, with Gibbs being indicted for his role, and eventually arrested following a traffic stop in July of that year.
He was found with hidden narcotics in his vehicle, along with another firearm, and more narcotics hidden on his person when booked into the jail.
He received 11 counts and two major drug offender specifications for the warrant, and nine counts following the traffic stop.
Recently, Gibbs was sentenced for the two incidents by Judge Elizabeth Thomakos and Judge Michael Ernest for 11 to 16 and a half years and 14 years, respectively.
Those sentences will be concurrent to charges from Stark and Summit County also involving drugs, and having allegedly shot someone.
Campbell gave credit to Detective Cole Morris, who served as the lead investigator for the whole operation in Tuscarawas County, and noted that the sheriff’s office viewed Gibbs as a credible threat throughout the region.
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