In a ruling this month, the Seventh District Court of Appeals denied a request to strike evidence seized from search of a car that led to a drug trafficking conviction of a now 34-year-old woman. The search yielded more than 150 tablets of MDMA (ecstasy).
      Michelle Prado, formerly of 90 Washington Blvd., will remain in jail until Sept., 2017, as a result of the ruling.
      In June, 2012, police executed a search warrant at 90 Washington Blvd. at 5:58 p.m.
      Four minutes before entering Prado’s apartment, police made a traffic stop on the 2006 Dodge Charger that Prado was driving.
      Inside the center console of the car, police found the MDMA, as well as an opiod pain medication, opana.
      At the scene of the traffic stop, Det. Michael Dado asked Prado if there was anything illegal in her car or her apartment.
      She initially answered ‘no,’ according to Det. Dado, who said that shortly thereafter Prado admitted to having a few opana pills and several ecstasy tabs in the center console of the car.
      When asked how many, according to Dado, Prado replied, “enough.”
      She told police, according to Dado, she took the opana for pain and the ecstasy “because she likes it.”
      According to the decision from the Seventh District Court, two confidential informants had told Det. Dado that Prado sold ecstasy and prescription drugs from her apartment. Dado was also told that Prado delivered the drugs in her car.
      Subsequently, Det. Dado obtained a search warrant from Boardman Court Judge Joseph Houser for Prado’s apartment and all vehicles that were associated with that residence.
      When police stopped the car driven by Prado and in which the drugs were found, police said another female and her 14-year-old daughter were also in the car.
      In Sept., 2012, Prado was indicted on felony possession of drug and trafficking in drugs.
      The case lingered in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for more than two years, and finally, on Dec. 22, 2014, Prado entered a no contest plea and was found guilty of both counts and sentenced to four years in jail. She was also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.
      Defense attorney Louis DeFabio filed an appeal, contending the search of Prado’s car was illegal.
      DeFabio said the findings of the search of the car should have been suppressed (withheld from the court record), because Det. Dado’s failed to provide sufficient probable cause to connect Prado’s vehicle to any alleged wrongdoing, and finally that the police officer “could not reasonable rely” on the warrant in searching Prado’s car, because the warrant “specifically’ authorized the search of any vehicle present on the premises of the apartment building.
      Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul Gains and Assistant Prosecutor Ralph Rivera argued the search warrant indeed applied to Prado’s car, emphasizing that Det. Dado verified the confidential informant’s tip that Prado owned the 2006 Charger that she was driving.
      The Seventh District decision, authored by Judge Cheryl Waite, held that the search warrant authorized the search of Prado’s vehicle.
      Judge Waite said that DeFabio’s appeal was without merit and was overruled, affirming Prado’s jail sentence.
      While Prado’s case lingered in the common pleas court for more than two years, the convicted drug dealer came to the attention of local police three times in 2014.
      In May, 2014, police were called to 7526 Glenwood Ave. where Prado and 36-year-old Lizette Salas had a dispute over Salas wanting to remove Prado’s belongings from the house while Prado went out of town.
      In June, 2014, Prado was arrested at 7526 Glenwood Ave. and charged with domestic violence and criminal damaging. In this incident, Ptl. Jamison Diglaw reported that Salas had redness and swelling to the left side of her face.
      Salas told police that Prado had punched her in the face three times during an argument over relationship issues.
      “Officers learned that Salas and Prado have known each other for about the past five years. They have dated for about the last four and a half years, and have resided together in a spousal relationship for about the last nine months,” Officer Anthony Ciccotelli said at the time.
      And in July, 2014, Prado and Salas again drew the attention of the police, who again were called to 7526 Glenwood Ave., where the two women were again arguing.
      According to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, Prado began her jail sentence on Dec. 24, 2014, to begin a mandatory three-year jail sentence that expires Sept. 5, 2017.