YOUNGSTOWN Poland man pleads guilty in cocaine trafficking case

YOUNGSTOWN -- A Poland man faces four years in prison and will give up his car for participating in a cocaine ring.
Shawn Willis, 31, of South Main Street, pleaded guilty Thursday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to two counts of cocaine trafficking.
In exchange for the plea, prosecutors dropped a charge of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.
Judge Jack Durkin ordered a background check on Willis before sentencing him.
Terry Grenga, assistant prosecutor, recommended that Willis be sentenced to a total of four years in prison.
She said Willis also agreed to forfeit his car, a 1995 Toyota Avalon, to authorities.
The car will either be sold, with proceeds used to help fund the county drug task force, or be used by undercover officers.
Willis was one of seven men indicted in September 2001 for operating what authorities have said was a major drug network, selling some 330 pounds of cocaine in the Mahoning Valley over the past decade.
The drugs were mostly sold at bars in the city's suburbs and on the West Side.
Five of the suspects now have pleaded guilty, and two are awaiting trial.
bjackson@vindy.com