Two Kentites Among Six Adults Arrested in Brimfield Meth-Lab Raid

Two Kent residents were among six adults arrested Friday when the Portage County Drug Task Force busted an operational meth lab at a Brimfield home. Charges are pending against one of the five juveniles present at the house during the raid.

The raid was the result of a month-long investigation into the illegal manufacturing of methamphetamine at the 4396 Edson Road house, Portage County Sheriff David Doak stated Monday in a press release.

Doak said task force members prepared a search warrant to look for evidence of items used in the manufacturing of meth. The warrant was executed Friday night by members of the task force, with assistance from the Brimfield Police Department.

Several meth-lab components were seized, Doak said, along with a small operational meth lab. Also seized from within the home were a shotgun with shells and a .22-caliber rifle.

Cherri Kuss, 38, owner of the 4396 Edson Road home, was arrested and charged with illegal manufacture of drugs, a second-degree felony.

Arrested and charged with complicity to manufacture drugs, a third-degree felony, were:

• Mitch Kuss, 18, also of 4396 Edson Road, Brimfield
• Colton Davis, 19, also of 4396 Edson Road, Brimfield
• Andrew Schaler, 20, of 651 Sandy Lake Road, Kent
• Kim Ferry, 19, of 133 W. Elm St., Kent
• Sean Kiser, 19, of Suffield

Doak said law enforcement officers executing the search warrant also found five juveniles at the residence. Charges against one of them for illegal manufacturing of drugs are pending. Task force members will seek additional charges when the case is presented to the grand jury.

According to Portage County Court online records, the six adult arrestees were arraigned from jail Monday and have their preliminary hearings set for Friday morning in Kent Municipal Court before Judge Kevin Poland.

Cheri Kuss also has two other trials coming up in Portage County Municipal Court for charges unrelated to the Jan. 20 meth-lab raid. She will stand trial Feb. 16 on a theft charge, and on Feb. 21 on a charge of prohibitions purchasing pseudoephedrine. Pseudoephedrine, a decongestant found in over-the-counter sinus medicines, can be used in the manufacture of meth.

The Portage County Drug Task Force is comprised of agents from the Portage County Sheriff’s Office, the police departments in Kent, Aurora, Brimfield, Garrettsville, Streetsboro, Ravenna and Windham, as well as the Portage County Prosecutor’s Office.