Man sentenced for leading drug, gun ring tied to 2020 police pursuit that ended in deadly Newport crash

CINCINNATI — The leader of a drug and gun trafficking organization tied to a 2020 police pursuit that ended with two innocent bystanders dead in Newport has been sentenced.

On Friday, federal officials announced 36-year-old Ryan Haskamp, of Cincinnati, will spend 27 years in prison.

Haskamp pleaded guilty in September to conspiring to distribute controlled substances, conspiring to possess firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes and possessing firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes.

Haskamp is one of roughly 18 people tied to the ring — the majority of whom are from the Cincinnati area, according to federal officials.

Two people connected to Haskamp, 32-year-old Mason Meyer and 26-year-old Kirsten Johnson, were the subject of a police pursuit that sped through Cincinnati and into Newport, Kentucky.

The pursuit ended in a crash that killed 81-year-old Raymond Laible and his wife, 80-year-old Gayle Laible, both of whom had been sitting outside Press on Monmouth cafe when Meyer’s vehicle veered off the road and struck them. Two other bystanders suffered minor injuries in the wreck.

Officials with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in conjunction with Cincinnati Police and the Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force had been conducting surveillance on Meyer in Cincinnati on Aug. 7, 2020 when Meyer drove away, according to court documents.

Following the crash, investigators tied Meyer and Johnson to Haskamp's drug trafficking organization, federal officials said.

Haskamp used at least five Cincinnati residences as stash houses to store and sell drugs; he also had others in the organization rent Airbnb locations and hotel rooms for the operation. Haskamp would have drugs delivered to the Airbnb rental properties, supplying drugs for redistribution to several co-defendants in Cincinnati and Dayton.

Others convicted in this case include: