ZANESVILLE, Ohio (WCMH) — A Columbus man could spend the next two decades in prison after trafficking drugs into Muskingum County at the direction of an imprisoned human trafficker.
According to the Muskingum County Prosecutor’s Office, Judge Kelly Cottrill sentenced 51-year-old Mark Baylor to 16 years in prison after Baylor pleaded guilty to engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, and two counts each of trafficking in fentanyl and money laundering.
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Those charges stem from a November 2025 investigation into Baylor, who began to distribute fentanyl to area drug dealers in Muskingum County.
The County’s Drug Unit and CODE Task Force discovered that Baylor was being directed to transport drugs from Columbus by another man who was serving 40 years in prison for human trafficking. Investigators said that the convicted felon was giving Baylor real-time instructions through phone conversations as to how much fentanyl to sell and for how much.
Baylor pleaded guilty in April and was recently sentenced to serve a minimum of 16 years in prison, with a possible maximum sentence of up to 21 years…