YOUNGSTOWN — Judge Anthony Donofrio of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court listened to the good things attorney Ron Yarwood had to say about his client Brandon E. Norman, 41, of Warren, on Monday.

However, Donofrio still sentenced Norman to two to three years in prison on two drug convictions. One was a high-level trafficking offense, and the other was a mid-level possession offense.

After listening to Yarwood’s sunny disposition about Norman, the judge mentioned some not-good things.

“In 2003, he has possessing drugs,” the judge said. “It goes misdemeanors, felonies of low levels, felony of low level, high-level felonies, to the highest level felony. So he’s advancing in the criminal justice system. He has reached the highest ranks now.”

Donofrio said he appreciated Yarwood “advocating very zealously for your client.”

Yarwood then continued to discuss the good job Norman has done as a father and talked about the good job Norman now has.

“It almost sounds like if he has some sort of structure short of prison, that he would do well,” Yarwood said. “He finally got a good job that he’s excelling at, and he’s doing well. He has a sense of meaning from that job, and I’d like to see him be able to keep that gainful employment.”

The judge respond: “He’s had 20 years now to get a good job.”

“But that’s a good thing that he has this,” Yarwood said. “He has finally righted the ship.” Yarwood mentioned that Norman recently picked up a new criminal charge.

“From what I understand, there was a person in the vehicle that was found with some stuff on their person, and there were a couple of pills in the back. They both were charged with that, but I think

ultimately this may be resolved in his favor,” Yarwood said of Norman.

“What you’re telling me is now, after 20 years, (Norman is) facing a prison sentence, and he’s turned his life around and he’s a good father,” Donofrio said.

Norman then spoke for more than six minutes. At the end, he said, “For the first time in my life, I finally have things in accordance to do what I need to succeed in life.”

Marty Hume, county assistant prosecutor, told Donofrio that prosecutors recommend that Norman get a prison sentence of whatever length the judge deems appropriate. Norman’s drug-trafficking conviction had a specification of forfeiture of money in drug case. The judge approved the forfeiture of $994 in cash that was seized by law enforcement.

One of Norman’s previous convictions was in December 2014 when he was sentenced to five years in prison in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court on a high level drug trafficking offense and six low-level drug-possession offenses, according to court records. He was released from prison on those offenses in December 2019.

Before announcing Norman’s sentence, the judge said he weighed a lot of factors, including the Community Corrections Association recommending that Norman go to prison. CCA gave that recommendation after carrying out an investigation of Norman’s criminal history and background.

The judge said a factor to consider is that Norman was on probation in Trumbull County when this case arose, “and you continue to violate” through new crimes.

“For all of these years, you have violated previous community control sanctions and continue to re-offend. Those are all bad things,” the judge said. “What they’re saying is you never wanted to conform to any type of authority or societal norms. You just continue to ignore the law and keep offending over and over.”

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