Jennifer Edwards Baker reports:
A Mason High School senior accused of being a key player in a $3 million marijuana ring will make his first appearance today in Warren County Juvenile Court.
Tyler Pagenstecher, 17, will be arraigned at 4 p.m. on two felony counts of drug trafficking.
Warren County law enforcement officials have said the teen dealt marijuana to local students for nearly three years and was suspected of selling some $20,000 of the drug each month.
If convicted, he could spend the next three years in a state juvenile detention center. He turns 18 in three months.
His arrest was part of the Warren County Drug Task Force’s year-long investigation into high-profile targets allegedly growing high-grade hydroponic marijuana in houses in Norwood and Hamilton, and in a furniture warehouse in Blue Ash.
Authorities have said the teen had at least six current and former Mason High School students working under him and was the primary source for marijuana for students in the Mason and Kings school districts. School officials have stressed the drug was not sold on school grounds.
Seven adults also were indicted in the case.
