JEFFERSON — Conneaut Law Director David Schroeder, the Republican candidate for county prosecutor this fall, criticized incumbent Thomas Sartini’s handling of methamphetamine-related cases during a press conference Wednesday afternoon.

Schroeder’s remarks, delivered in front of the Ashtabula County courthouse, came one week after the much-publicized “Operation Meth Death,” a nine-month police investigation that resulted in dozens of arrest warrants for possession illegal amounts of an important meth-making ingredient. The probe was handled by police in Madison Township, Geneva, Jefferson, Geneva-on-the-Lake and Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Office.

Many of Schroeder’s comments came in response to statements Sartini made in a video he commissioned to chronicle the Aug. 29 raids.

Schroeder took aim at Sartini’s claim after the arrests were announced that his office has been tough on meth-related culprits. Schroeder, in a copy of his remarks, said his analysis of court records from 2010 and 2011 show many cases were “routinely dismissed or pled (pleaded) down contrary to Mr. Sartini’s election year assertions.”

Sartini said Wednesday afternoon he would not comment on Schroeder’s remarks on the phone, but would make a point-by-point rebuttal today.

Schroeder said on one occasion he was asked by police to prepare a search warrant for a meth suspect, only to discover the same individual — at the same address — had been arrested by Conneaut police before and the case dismissed by the prosecutor’s office.

He also said Sartini made a claim on the “Meth Death” video that the suspects were in jail, when the vast majority were “processed and released on a signature or minimal bond.”

“Mr. Sartini, catch and release is fishing, not felons,” Schroeder said in the prepared statement.

A remark made during Sartini’s press conference to discuss the arrests also caught Schroeder’s attention. During the event, Sheriff William Johnson misstated the legal amount of pseudoephedrine that can be legally purchased. Schroeder said Sartini seemed to be nodding in agreement at the sheriff’s remark, Schroeder said in a statement.

“This assertion is not only grossly incorrect but raises serious questions about the preparedness of the individuals for this staged conference and their jobs in general,” Schroeder said. “Misters Sartini and Johnson didn’t seem to take nine minutes to prepare for a press conference that resulted from a nine-month investigation.”

Sartini contacted the Star Beacon the day after the incorrect data was published on Aug. 30 with accurate numbers.

Johnson, reached for comment, admitted Wednesday he misspoke at the press conference, but that he felt the mistake was corrected by others at the same event. “It was also corrected in the paper,” he said.

Schroeder, in his remarks, said he has concluded “Sartini has repeatedly misrepresented his prosecution policy and conviction history regarding meth cases” and the county “has no meaningful drug task force and no plan or policy to combat meth.” As a result, the county has become a “hotbed of meth activity requiring law enforcement personnel from other areas to intervene to combat the problem.”

Schroeder said his criticism of Sartini and Johnson did not extend to the police officers who did “excellent work” on the meth investigation that was unveiled last week. “Few among us could do what (police) are asked to do,” he said in the statement.