YOUNGSTOWN New U.S. attorney prefers to prosecute

The prosecutor likes the stiffer sentences that apply at the federal level.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Linda H. Barr, the Mahoning Valley's new assistant U.S. attorney, never wanted to be a defense lawyer.
The 45-year-old career prosecutor turned down a suggestion several years back to give the other side of the law a try. Knowing her own proclivity for prosecution, she says with a grin that it wouldn't have been fair to the defendants.
"If you're going to be a lawyer, the best is to be prosecutor," she said.
Barr, a Shenango Valley native, spent 13 years as a deputy attorney general in Pennsylvania, assigned to the drug strike force. Before that, she spent five years as an assistant district attorney in Mercer County.
She is a graduate of West Middlesex High School, Penn State University and the University of Pittsburgh law school. She knows this area well, from shopping at the malls to prosecuting western Pennsylvania cases that had crossover ties to Ohio.
Barr is the area's third assistant U.S. attorney, with an office in City Centre One downtown. She follows Cynthia Rice, now an appellate judge in Trumbull County, and Steve Katzman, now in private practice in California.
When Rice left in early 2002 to run for the 11th District Court of Appeals, the assistant U.S. attorney's position here was filled on an as-needed basis by federal prosecutors based in Cleveland.
"Youngstown's a great community, but crime spiked because of economic factors," Barr said. She doesn't see Youngstown being any different than Pennsylvania cities that experienced job loss, such as New Castle, Farrell, Sharon and Aliquippa.
She said the goal is to restore balance.
Jumping in
Barr was named to the job about four months ago. She said there's a learning curve in the transfer from state to federal prosecutions so she's "jumped in with both feet and asks a lot of questions."
The chance to broaden horizons and the challenge of federal work led Barr to apply. She's impressed with U.S. Attorney Greg White and her colleagues in Cleveland.
Barr will handle gun and drug cases, including those that fall under Project Safe Neighborhoods and the Gun Reduction Interdiction Project. Cases come from local police departments, the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and others.
For a gun case to be prosecuted at the federal level, a defendant must have a felony conviction that netted at least a one-year prison sentence. For drug cases, a variety of factors are considered, such as prior criminal record, she said.
Barr said she likes the stiffer sentences offered in the federal system.
For example, a conviction in the Pennsylvania state system for possessing five grams of crack means one year in prison; in the federal system, it's five years, she said.
Most recent case
Barr talked about a jury trial she and Sharon Long, an assistant U.S. attorney based in Cleveland, won this past week. The case began last December when two members of the Youngstown Police Department Vice Squad nearly had their cruiser struck by William Sanders, 45, of New York Avenue, who dropped a loaded gun after running from his abandoned car.
Sanders, who had a felony record, was found hiding in a large trash bin behind Star Supply on Mahoning Avenue. He came out of the bin covered with lettuce and cucumbers, Barr said.
Barr said she told the jury in her closing argument that desperate times call for desperate measures. Sanders was willing to jump into a trash container to try to avoid capture.
On Tuesday, a jury found Sanders guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He faces up to 15 years in prison when sentenced in January by U.S. District Judge James S. Gwin.
"I plan on being here a long time," Barr said, enthusiastic about her work. "I think this is the job I'll retire from."
meade@vindy.com