City employee charged in drug trafficking ring

Shanda Green, 39, an administrative technician in the city's building and inspections permit center, made her first appearance in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati on Monday. She pleaded not guilty.

She is one of 11 people charged for their role in a drug conspiracy that lasted for nearly five years in which fentanyl, ketamine, cocaine and heroin were sold and the drug proceeds laundered through bank accounts and real estate purchases, according to an indictment unsealed on Monday.

Green and co-defendant Jeronda Kelley are accused of allowing the alleged leader of the drug ring, John Moore Jr., to deposit $420,000 from illegal drug sales and wire fraud transactions into their bank accounts from 2012 until 2017, and then giving Moore cashier's checks from their accounts, according to the indictment.

Green is charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and four counts of structuring – or making small deposits into bank accounts to avoid triggering the attention of the Internal Revenue Service or the Bank Secrecy Act.

Moore, is also accused of wire fraud for using his company, John T. Moore Construction, to devise a scheme to buy four homes in Cincinnati and Fairfield. He is accused of submitting false loan applications, according to the indictment.

Green was placed on unpaid administrative leave on Tuesday pending the city's formal pre-disciplinary hearing process.

Green was released from federal custody awaiting trial.