YOUNGSTOWN Man expected to plead to shooting into crowd

The proposed prison term will be concurrent with a Pennsylvania sentence.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A city man accused of shooting into a crowd of people, wounding three, was expected to plead guilty today, ending a case that has been pending some eight years.
Marcus Smith was to go on trial Wednesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on charges of attempted murder. The trial was put on hold, however, when lawyers reached a tentative plea agreement late Wednesday afternoon.
Smith, 27, of Halleck Street, was expected to plead guilty this morning to reduced charges of aggravated assault, said Assistant Prosecutor Timothy Franken.
In exchange, prosecutors will recommend that Judge Jack Durkin sentence Smith to two to 10 years in prison, and that the time be served concurrently to a sentence Smith already is serving in a Pennsylvania prison on unrelated charges.
Smith's attorney, Louis DeFabio, filed a motion arguing that prosecutors failed to meet their obligation to bring Smith to trial within a specified time limit. As part of the plea agreement, DeFabio will withdraw that motion, Franken said.
DeFabio declined to comment.
Victims consented
Franken said the victims in the case, including a Howland man whose injuries left him needing to use a wheelchair, consented to the agreement.
"This has been going on way too long, and we all want to get it over with," Franken said.
Smith is charged with a 1995 shooting outside a house on Pennsylvania Avenue, near Youngstown State University on the city's North Side.
The case was delayed in the beginning because of unrelated assault and robbery charges against Smith in Lawrence County, Pa. He was convicted of those charges in August 2000 and sentenced to 10 to 25 years in prison.
Smith then was brought back to Mahoning County to face the Ohio charges. The case was set for trial many times, but always was postponed for various reasons.
DeFabio argued that prosecutors should have tried Smith by no later than Feb. 1, 2001.
bjackson@vindy.com