Traverse City pair arrested after meth investigation in Grand Traverse County

About 77 grams of suspected methamphetamine were seized from a Traverse City residence after a months-long Michigan State Police narcotics investigation focused on two local residents. Leah Marino-Fitch, 44, and Ronald Kitchen-Wright, 34, now face felony charges tied to suspected drug distribution in Grand Traverse County.

Troopers from the Michigan State Police Traverse City Post began investigating the pair in September 2025. Investigators used the Flock camera system to track one suspect’s repeated short trips to Muskegon, which they believed were part of a trafficking pattern. Police also believed drug distribution was happening from a residence connected to Marino-Fitch and Kitchen-Wright, and they executed a search warrant there on June 13.

Inside the home, officers seized about 77 grams of suspected methamphetamine, along with drug-distribution evidence and paraphernalia. Marino-Fitch was lodged in the Grand Traverse County Jail and arraigned June 15 in 86th District Court on one count of delivery and manufacture of methamphetamine and one count of maintaining a drug house. Kitchen-Wright was also lodged in jail and arraigned on one count of delivery and manufacture of methamphetamine. Prosecutors additionally charged Kitchen-Wright as a habitual offender, second offense. Their next court appearance was scheduled for June 26 at 2 p.m.

The case lands in a county that says its Traverse Narcotics Team is a multijurisdictional unit managed by the Michigan State Police and focused on street-level narcotics and vice-related crimes. Grand Traverse County officials have said illegal narcotics are often tied to robbery, burglary, home invasion, carjacking and homicide, underscoring why local investigators treat meth cases as a public-safety issue, not just an isolated drug arrest.

Michigan law provides enhanced treatment for second or subsequent drug offenses when prior qualifying drug convictions exist, and Michigan courts say second habitual-offender status can increase the punishment possible for a felony conviction. That legal exposure adds pressure in a case that investigators say grew over time, with surveillance, camera data and a warrant search all building toward the June arrest.

The broader response in Grand Traverse County has also included public-health spending. The county received $4.5 million in opioid lawsuit settlement funds in 2023 for naloxone, treatment, prevention, education and recovery support, a reminder that local officials are pairing enforcement with efforts meant to reduce the harm drug activity leaves behind.