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WARREN -- An Austintown man, who was convicted in less than 10 minutes by a Trumbull County jury earlier this month, on Monday received a 12-month prison sentence for an aggravated possession of drugs conviction.
George F. Watters Jr., 47, of North Navarre Avenue, appeared with his attorney, Alexander Keane, during the sentencing hearing before Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Peter Kontos.
On Feb. 1, Watters was found guilty by a jury of having less than a gram of methamphetamine during a traffic stop on Palmyra Road and Southwest Boulevard in October 2020.
Assistant Prosecutor Charles Morrow pushed for the maximum prison sentence because Watters still has shown no remorse and tried to blame his passenger for having the drug.
Keane pushed for probation because his client supports a family of five who recently were victims of a house fire. He said Watters had a reputation in the community of being a fix-it man.
Kontos credited Watters for serving 13 days in the county jail.
Watters testified on his own behalf during a trial. Warren police detective Adam Gilger testified that he stopped Watters, who was driving a pickup truck, for a turn-signal violation. Gilger described finding a small plastic bag of suspected meth near the center console of the vehicle. The suspected drugs were seized and sent to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation for analysis.
Taking the stand in his own defense, Watters said he did not have any knowledge that the drugs were in the pickup. He later told the jury he did not see the woman passenger drop the drugs in the console area.