Man sentenced for drug possession

LIBERTY -- Former businessman Michael Kish has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for narcotics violations.
Kish, 59, of Liberty, formerly owned Duncan Lakkes, a state Route 304 outdoor ornamental decoration business.
Atty. Robert Corts, an assistant Lorain County prosecutor, said Kish was found guilty of two counts of possession of drugs -- cocaine and marijuana. He was sentenced immediately after a jury trial in Lorain County Common Pleas Court.
Corts asserted that Kish and a government informant had been transporting cocaine and marijuana from El Paso, Texas, to the Youngstown area.
Kish, who Corts described as a "major drug offender," also owned a warehouse in Sheffield Township, southeast of Lorain.
In July 2000, Kish had a conversation with the informant, who was wearing a recording device. Corts said Kish wanted to give the informant the warehouse, rather than money, in exchange for drugs.
When Kish was arrested, Corts said, he had 11 pounds of cocaine and 30 pounds of marijuana.
The probe was conducted by the Lorain County Drug Task Force, Lorain County Sheriff's Office and the Eylria Police Department.