Trending
YOUNGSTOWN -- Two Warren men received federal prison sentences last week in U.S. District Court.
A Warren man received a 10-year, 10-month sentence Thursday after a federal jury in late May returned seven guilty verdicts convicting him of supplying a powerful opiate that caused a 2018 overdose death in Warren.
Maurice Washington, 34, of West Avenue NW, appeared for sentencing before Judge Patricia A. Gaughan, who sentenced him to consecutive terms.
A jury in U.S. Northern Ohio District Court found Washington guilty on three counts of distribution of cocaine, possession with intent to distribute heroin, possession with intent to distribute Tramadol, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Washington, who was acquitted of one count of distribution of fentanyl, also was assessed $700 in court costs, records show.
The three-day trial, which ended May 27, saw testimony from both prosecution and defense.
According to the indictment, Washington supplied the fentanyl that caused the Sept. 29, 2018, death of a person in Warren. The indictment identifies the victim only with the initials "C.B."
Washington has been in federal custody since the fall of 2019. Investigators said when Washington was arrested in Warren, he had three pistols with him.
Also on Thursday Donald E. Jones Jr., 40, of 1756 Oak St. SW, Warren, was sentenced to 10 years and four months in federal custody on a four-count jury conviction of drugs and weapon offenses.
Jones was found guilty on charges of possession with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl, possession with intent to distribute Tramadol, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime and being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition. The verdicts were returned after a three-day trial before Judge Daniel A. Polster in Cleveland.
Jones, who was represented by attorney Jay Milano, took the stand in his own defense Wednesday. Among the prosecution witnesses were Warren police Sgt. John Dina and officers Michael Edwards, Donald Shipman and William Fowler. The defendant was indicted in April 2019 for the crimes that took place in November 2018, according to the indictment.