Columbus, Ohio – A California man has been sentenced to more than 20 years in federal prison after prosecutors said he helped flood central Ohio with massive amounts of methamphetamine shipped through the mail for redistribution.
55-year-old Troy Patterson of Beverly Hills was sentenced in U.S. District Court earlier this week to 250 months in prison for shipping more than 90 kilograms of methamphetamine from Southern California to Columbus, where it was intended to be broken down and sold again. Federal officials said the scale of the operation was staggering, involving repeated shipments over a long period of time and a steady flow of narcotics into Ohio.
According to court records, Patterson’s case was headed toward trial in early 2025. A jury trial began in February 2025, but shortly after the jury was selected, Patterson pleaded guilty. He admitted to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, a charge that carries severe penalties, especially when the amount involved reaches into kilogram levels.
Investigators Say Parcels Delivered Kilogram Loads Into Ohio
Court documents detailed that Patterson was held responsible for nearly 14 kilograms of methamphetamine and more than 77 kilograms of narcotics mixtures containing methamphetamine, showing investigators tied him to both pure methamphetamine and mixtures containing the drug.
Authorities said that between December 2020 and April 2023, Patterson shipped — or instructed others to ship — at least 150 parcels containing kilogram quantities of narcotics into central Ohio. Prosecutors described the deliveries as part of a consistent pipeline from Southern California to Columbus, allowing methamphetamine to be redistributed in the region.
Federal officials also emphasized Patterson’s history, pointing to a pattern of repeated criminal behavior that continued even after multiple prison sentences. Prosecutors described him as a repeat federal and local offender with several convictions for violent crimes, including domestic violence and aggravated burglary.
Investigators noted that Patterson had been released from state prison only five months before the drug conspiracy began, meaning the trafficking operation started shortly after he regained his freedom. The sentencing also highlighted his prior federal convictions, including two earlier drug trafficking cases. Patterson had federal drug trafficking convictions in 1991 and 2005, for which he served 168 months and 21 months in prison, yet prosecutors said he returned to trafficking again.
Four co-defendants in the case were also convicted, and they received prison sentences ranging from approximately three years to approximately 16 years, showing that the conspiracy stretched beyond one person and involved multiple individuals contributing to the distribution network.
The case was handled as part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative aimed at using federal resources to target major criminal threats, including cartels and transnational criminal organizations, while also protecting communities from violent crime.
The sentence was announced by Dominick S. Gerace II, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Lesley Allison, Inspector in Charge with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Pittsburgh Division; and officials with the Ohio HIDTA. Patterson’s 250-month sentence was imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Michael H. Watson, and the United States was represented by Assistant United States Attorneys Nicole Pakiz and Jennifer Rausch.
With Patterson now sentenced, federal officials framed the case as a major disruption of a long-running methamphetamine supply line feeding central Ohio.
