MANSFIELD — Bradley Fisher isn’t scheduled to be released from state prison until the turn of the next century.
The Richland County man — sentenced in November 2025 to 75 years in prison on 18 drug-related charges — would need to find a new place to live if the day does come that he is set free.
The Richland County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, in a meeting with county Prosecutor Jodie Schumacher, authorized the sale of Fisher’s former house at 1214 Bechtel Ave.
The property, valued at $50,000 on the Richland County Auditor’s website, was among multiple items seized after Fisher, now 33, was arrested Jan. 30, 2025, in what at the time was the biggest drug bust in METRICH Enforcement Unit history.
Significant amounts of illegal drugs, including fentanyl and cocaine, were seized at the Wooster Heights residence in Madison Township, along with vehicles and $28,000 in cash, the prosecutor said.
Richland County Common Pleas Court Judge Phil Naumoff granted the prosecutor’s forfeiture request for the house on Dec. 17.
“In this instance, the jury did find that the value of the property of Bechtel was not disproportionate to the seriousness of the offense,” Schumacher told commissioners.
“There were multiple bricks of cocaine and then clandestine pills of fentanyl located there,” the prosecutor said.
“There was a lot of evidence presented that was also indicative of close connections to cartels, and there was testimony by one of the senior agents that the estimated value of the drugs … the street value … was over $4 million,” Schumacher said.
The property seizure was a clear message to drug dealers seeking to operate in the county, according to the prosecutor.
“We’re going to come after you and we’re going to come after you hard,” Schumacher said. “We’re going to utilize any tool in our tool belt.”
(Below is a PDF with the court order for the forfeiture of the 1214 Bechtel Ave. residence.)
Fisher purchased the property in 2023 for $17,000 and had done substantial upgrades, according to the prosecutor. He is currently in prison at the Noble Correctional Institution in southeast Ohio.
His arrest came after a METRICH vehicle stop, assisted by Mansfield police and the Richland County Sheriff’s Office. Fisher was allegedly scheduled to soon receive a large shipment of narcotics, based on METRICH surveillance and investigation.
Authorities tailed Fisher when he left the residence in the 1200 block of Bechtel Avenue.
Fisher was driving a 2015 GMC Yukon and was stopped by sheriff’s deputies on Fifth Avenue at U.S. 30.
Deputies made contact with Fisher and after a brief dialogue, he fled in his vehicle and was involved in a crash with a sheriff’s cruiser a short distance away from the initial stop, where he was apprehended.
Mansfield police K-9 Maxx alerted on the vehicle and 55 grams (about two ounces) of suspected cocaine were located during a search.
METRICH detectives then executed a related search warrant at 1214 Bechtel Ave. The initial search found five kilos (about 11 pounds) of suspected illegal drugs, a handgun, cash and other drug-related evidence.
Schumacher showed commissioners photos taken during the search of the residence, showing remodeling and building improvements since Fisher purchased the property.
She said Ohio Revised Code 307.10 grants county commissioners the ability to sell such property and divide the proceeds. In this instance, she said, 60 percent of the sale would go to METRICH and 40 percent to the prosecutor’s office, based on agreements between her office and local law enforcement agencies.
Commissioners also approved Schumacher’s request to allow Realtor Justin Bigelow and his Dream Huge Realty office to list the property.
“He had indicated a willingness to be the listing agent and take zero commission on the property or the sale,” Schumacher said. “The benefit there is that allows us the exposure of the (multiple listing service through the Mansfield Association of Realtors.)”
The property would also be advertised by the county for 30 days, according to the prosecutor, who said bids and offers would presented to county commissioners. If all bids are rejected by the board, a public auction would be scheduled.
Commissioner Cliff Mears said the $28,000 in cash seized may be greater than the proceeds from the sale of the house.
Commissioner Tony Vero said, “It’s got a lot of potential. It’s a fixer-upper.”
Mansfield police Chief Jason Bammann, who attended the meeting Tuesday, said METRICH cases can “sometimes take upwards of two of three years.”
“That’s why when these cases do go to trial, the evidence is pretty clear and damning in that aspect. As Jodie said, if you’re in our communities and you decide to sell drugs and pollute, we are gonna come after you and we will take everything that you purchased with those proceeds from those drug sales,” Bammann said.
