YOUNGSTOWN Man goes to prison for carrying a gun

The gun charge was a violation of probation for a prior drug charge in another court.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A city man who was caught with a gun outside an uptown restaurant last summer was sent to prison Tuesday.
Frank J. Brown, 22, of East Ravenwood Avenue, pleaded guilty to charges of carrying a concealed weapon and illegally possessing a firearm.
Judge James C. Evans of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court sentenced Brown to one year in prison for each count and ordered that they be served at the same time. That was the recommendation in a plea agreement among Brown, defense attorney Ronald E. Knickerbocker and the county prosecutor's office.
Credit for time served
Brown was given credit for 178 days he's spent in the county jail while the matter was pending. His case was set for trial Tuesday, but he opted for the plea instead.
Jay Macejko, assistant prosecutor, said Brown was in the Busy Bee restaurant, at Market Street and Southern Boulevard in the city's Uptown District, around 3:15 a.m. June 15, with a handgun tucked into the waistband in the back of his pants. A city policeman who was eating at the restaurant noticed the gun and notified another officer, who was working security in the parking lot.
When Brown walked outside, the security officer saw him pull the gun out of his waistband and walk toward a group of people who were standing in the parking lot, Macejko said.
When the officers approached him, Brown stepped behind a car with his hands behind his back. They heard something metallic fall on the ground and found the gun lying at Brown's feet, Macejko said. Brown denied that the gun, a Glock Model 22 .40-caliber, was his.
"Frank realizes that what took place was dumb," Knickerbocker said. He acknowledged that Brown should not have had the gun, but said he did not intend to use it.
Was on probation
The episode happened while Brown was on probation for a drug charge. Judge Robert Lisotto of common pleas court sentenced him to a year in prison Tuesday afternoon for violating terms of the probation. As part of the plea agreement, the prison sentences imposed by Judges Evans and Lisotto will be served concurrently.
bjackson@vindy.com