YOUNGSTOWN — Brian J. James, 43, of Anna Street was sentenced to 11 to 16 years in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to three first-degree drug charges.

James pleaded guilty Feb. 15 to aggravated drug possession, fentanyl-related compound possession and cocaine possession, as well as a firearm specification and specifications of forfeiture of property and money.

James received his sentence from Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, who also held James in contempt of court Monday when James showed up eight minutes late for his original sentencing hearing.

The judge ordered that James be taken to the Mahoning County jail until his rescheduled sentencing hearing Tuesday. The judge also sentenced James to a five-year driver’s license suspension.

James was indicted in November on eight high-level drug trafficking and drug possession charges, plus one count of having weapons while not allowed.

The charges arose from an investigation by the Mahoning Valley Law Enforcement Task Force, which began an investigation in 2022 into drug activity and obtained search warrants for two homes linked to James. Investigators recovered fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine at levels that warranted first-degree felony drug charges, said Gina DeGenova, Mahoning County prosecutor.