Author: FFP Ai Bot

FOSTORIA — The federal drug and money-laundering case against former Power Up gym owner Epolito Rodriguez of Fostoria and three co-defendants, including Mercedes Rodriguez, will not see any pretrial motions until next year. A federal judge in Toledo set a Jan. 15, 2027, motion deadline and paused the Speedy Trial clock until late January, according to a docket entry made Tuesday.

The update is in a minute order entered Oct. 20, 2026, in United States v. Rodriguez et al., Case No. 3:26-cr-00098-JJH, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Western Division. The Free Press reviewed the entry on the court’s PACER system.

Charges are accusations only. Every defendant in this case is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

Tuesday’s telephone conference

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey J. Helmick held a 15-minute telephone pretrial conference on Oct. 20. It covered four of the five defendants named in the superseding indictment:

• Epolito Rodriguez (Defendant 1), represented by attorney Kurt Bruderly
• Randolph Langston (Defendant 3), represented by attorney Stevin Groth
• Terry D’Keith Nelson (Defendant 4), represented by attorney Jerome Phillips
• Mercedes Rodriguez (Defendant 5), represented by attorney Jane E. Roman, who was appointed under the Criminal Justice Act

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Melching appeared for the government. The docket says only that “case status” was reported. It does not describe what was discussed.

Judge Helmick set these dates and rulings:

• Motion deadline: All defendants must file pretrial motions by Jan. 15, 2027.
• Next conference: A further pretrial conference is set for Jan. 28, 2027, at 3:30 p.m., again by telephone.
• Speedy Trial time excluded: The time from Oct. 21, 2026, through Jan. 28, 2027, is excluded under the federal Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. 3161(h). The order says the delay allows for possible motion practice and for defense attorneys to review discovery. Discovery is the evidence the government turns over to the defense.

In the order, the judge found that “the ends of justice served by granting this time outweigh the best interest of the public and the defendant in obtaining a speedy trial.”

The fifth defendant in the superseding indictment, Miguel Gonzalez-Garcia (Defendant 2), is not listed in the Oct. 20 minute order. The docket entry does not say why.

The charges against Mercedes Rodriguez

The docket lists five pending counts against Mercedes Rodriguez, all classified as felonies:

• Count 1: Conspiracy to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute, controlled substances, under 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A), (b)(1)(B), (b)(1)(C) and 846
• Count 8: Money laundering conspiracy, under 18 U.S.C. 1956(h)
• Counts 9 through 11: International money laundering, under 18 U.S.C. 1956(a)(2)(A) and 2

The docket shows Epolito Rodriguez is named in the same counts, 1, 8 and 9 through 11, plus Count 2 of the superseding indictment. The international money laundering counts had not been publicly identified when the Free Press last reported on the case. The docket summary does not describe the specific transactions or amounts behind those counts.

How the case began

The case started in February with a series of searches in Fostoria. On Feb. 19, law enforcement served search warrants at several Fostoria locations, the Free Press reported at the time. The locations included the Power Up gym at 106 N. Main St. and Epolito Rodriguez’s home on U.S. 23.

Power Up Fitness was run by Trisha Roddy, who has not been charged or arrested in the federal case. In a Feb. 21 report, the Free Press said Roddy had sent the Free Press messages demanding that its coverage of the raids be taken down.

According to a DEA task force officer’s affidavit, described in later news reports, the DEA and the Ohio State Highway Patrol began investigating Rodriguez in late 2025. They had received information that he was allegedly selling bulk quantities of cocaine and using the gym to support the operation. Investigators said they watched his vehicle near a California-plated semi in Findlay on Feb. 16. The semi was stopped near Columbus that night, and authorities reported finding $665,480 in cash under a mattress in the sleeper.

In the Feb. 19 searches, agents reported finding about 42 kilograms of suspected cocaine, most of it in duffel bags in the gym’s basement, along with cash at the gym. At his home they reported finding $139,100. Authorities put the total cash seized at more than $800,000.

Epolito Rodriguez was arrested Feb. 25 on a federal criminal complaint and was indicted March 4. He pleaded not guilty March 9, and Bruderly took over his defense from the Federal Public Defender’s office. He later asked to be released and offered properties as security. After a May 5 detention hearing, the court ordered him to stay in custody while the case is pending. The gym’s Fostoria location at 106 N. Main St. closed in early March. It was later renamed Ignite Wellness Club and reopened at 112 W. Tiffin St. in Fostoria, using the same phone number. Its Google listing now shows it as temporarily closed. In a Facebook post reported by WTOL, the business said it “was never a ‘front’ for anything.”

Superseding indictment adds four defendants

The case grew in September. A superseding indictment was filed under seal Sept. 2 and unsealed Sept. 14. It added Gonzalez-Garcia, Langston, Nelson and Mercedes Rodriguez as defendants.

Mercedes Rodriguez and Nelson were arrested Sept. 11, according to the docket, and appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Darrell A. Clay on Sept. 14. The Free Press reported on Sept. 17 that the DEA had arrested Mercedes Rodriguez, whom the Free Press identified as Epolito Rodriguez’s sister. Ages and hometowns for the four newer defendants have not been released in public court records.

For a wider look at the year’s drug cases in and around Fostoria, see the Free Press 2026 drug arrests roundup.

What happens next

• Jan. 15, 2027: Deadline for all defendants to file pretrial motions. These could include motions to suppress evidence or other challenges to the charges.
• Jan. 28, 2027, 3:30 p.m.: Further telephone pretrial conference before Judge Helmick.
• No trial date has been set in the docket entries the Free Press reviewed, and no plea agreements have been entered. The case remains pending.

Court information for the Northern District of Ohio is available from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio.

The Fostoria Free Press will continue to follow this case.

Related coverage

• FOSTORIA — DEA Arrests Mercedes Rodriguez, Sister of Epolito Rodriguez, and Charged in Federal Court (Sept. 17, 2026)
• FOSTORIA | From 90 Pounds of Cocaine to a 7-Year Investigation: A Look Back at 2026’s Drug Arrests (Oct. 16, 2026)
• BREAKING: METRICH Carries Out Multiple Raids Thursday Afternoon in Fostoria, Ohio (Feb. 20, 2026)
• DEVELOPING: Trisha Roddy, Owner of Power Up Fostoria Threatens FFP With Blackmail (Feb. 21, 2026)

Sources

• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio, docket, Case No. 3:26-cr-00098-JJH (PACER), minute order entered Oct. 20, 2026
• https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72361971/united-states-v-rodriguez/
• https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/63323317/USA_v_Rodriguez
• https://www.wtol.com/article/news/local/fostoria-power-up-owner-charged-federal-cocaine-case-800k-seized/512-1368e382-8deb-4063-80fc-5ed036b4503f
• https://www.wtol.com/article/news/local/power-up-fostoria-gym-closing-doors-weeks-after-owner-arrested-on-drug-charges/512-1d9f9b58-7fd7-4236-9833-772c142b6e6e
• https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2026/03/04/ohio-gym-owner-charged-800000-dollars-90-pounds-of-cocaine-drugs-seized/88981346007/
• https://www.ohnd.uscourts.gov/
• https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndoh
• https://thefostoriafreepress.com/fostoria-dea-arrests-mercedes-rodriguez-sister-of-epolito-rodriqueze-and-charged-in-federal-court/
• https://thefostoriafreepress.com/developing-metrich-carries-out-multiple-raids-thursday-afternoon-in-fostoria-ohio/
• https://thefostoriafreepress.com/fostoria-from-90-pounds-of-cocaine-to-a-7-year-investigation-a-look-back-at-2026s-drug-arrests-by-metrich-dea-and-fostoria-police/
• https://thefostoriafreepress.com/3-developing-owner-of-power-up-fostoria-allegedly-threatens-ffp-with-blackmail-slander/
• https://www.instagram.com/ignitewellnessfostoria/