The Clark County Sheriff’s Office, R.A.N.G.E Task Force, Springfield Police Division, German Township police and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation raided five houses in Springfield and several townships in the county they suspected were part of a grow operation, said Sheriff Gene Kelly.
Nicholas Rigel is charged with engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity and four counts each of possession of marijuana and cultivation of marijuana.
He and his wife own Herold Property Management LLC, a rental property company that owned some of the housing where hundreds of marijuana plants were found, said Andrew Picek, assistant prosecutor in Clark County.
“Basically they run rental properties throughout Springfield and Clark County, and a number of the rental properties owned by the corporation were being used to commit the crimes,” Picek said.
Nock was arrested in August in one of the homes. He is also charged with engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, cultivation of marijuana and possession of marijuana.
Timothy Rigel — Nicholas Rigel’s brother — is charged with cultivation of marijuana and possession of marijuana. Rigel owned a warehouse property that was searched in the August seizure, but the investigation could not connect the alleged crimes of the two brothers together into one case, Picek said.
The bust was one of the largest marijuana grow operations the Clark County Sheriff’s Office has ever handed, Kelly said in August.
More than 500 marijuana plants valued at more than $1 million were seized from the properties. Investigators also took cash, cars and weapons from several of the Clark County homes as part of their investigation.
Ashley Slater lives on Hillside Avenue in Springfield, just down the street from one of the houses involved in the raid, and remembers officers storming the home.
“I was sitting on the porch all amazed just watching it like it was a movie,” she said, describing how police carried out dozens of large marijuana plants from the home.
Investigators said the men had a system in place to grow drugs in the homes.
“It was certainly obvious that they were experienced — they knew what they were doing and he equipment was well put together,” Picek said.
Both Rigels are currently booked in the Clark County Jail, but deputies say they are still looking for Nock. Anyone with information of his whereabouts should call the sheriff’s office at 937-521-2050.
About the Author