YOUNGSTOWN Man sentenced to prison for drugs

The man also will face other drug charges and a murder charge.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Edward Dubose told a judge that his life has gone downhill and it seems like he's stuck in a hole.
Things didn't get any better moments later when the judge sent Dubose to prison for 21/2 years. And with more charges pending against him, including aggravated murder, it could get worse.
Dubose, 22, of Albert Street, had pleaded guilty in June to possession of cocaine and heroin and to having a firearm. Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court sentenced him for those charges Wednesday.
"I ain't a bad person," Dubose told the judge before he was sentenced. "My whole life has taken a turn for the worse at this moment. I feel like I'm stuck in a hole."
A county grand jury indicted Dubose in June in the aggravated murder of Marcus Bradley in the city's South Side in November 2001. Dubose's cousin, Ceyanie Dubose, 26, of Norwood Avenue, also is charged with aggravated murder in that case.
Drug charges
Edward Dubose also faces unrelated drug charges in another courtroom. He has pleaded innocent to the murder and drug charges and is awaiting trial.
Defense attorney Ronald Yarwood said the murder charge should not be held against Dubose in considering a sentence for Wednesday's drug charges because the two cases are unrelated.
"We don't take the murder charge lightly, but right now he is presumed innocent of that," Yarwood said. He asked that Dubose be placed on probation for the drug charges and allowed to seek treatment for a drug addiction that began in 2001.
Judge Krichbaum agreed that he could not hold the murder charge and other drug counts against Dubose for sentencing but said it would be "inappropriate and irresponsible" for him to ignore that they are pending.
bjackson@vindy.com