MAHONING COUNT COURTS Man requests lenience, and judge giv es his OK

The South Side man has no prior criminal record.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Frank Whitted asked a judge to give him a second chance to become a productive member of society.
Judge James C. Evans of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court looked the 20-year-old in the eye and told him Monday he would give him that chance.
The judge agreed to put Whitted of West Princeton Avenue on three years' community control through the Ohio Adult Parole Authority and ordered him to complete a day-reporting program at Community Corrections Association on Market Street.
His indictment
A county grand jury indicted Whitted on June 10 on a charge of aggravated trafficking in cocaine. On Nov. 8, however, through a plea bargain, the charge was reduced to cocaine possession, which carries a one-year prison term. Whitted pleaded guilty to the reduced charge that same day.
Jay Macejko, an assistant county prosecutor, said Whitted has no prior criminal record, and the state accepted the APA recommendation made to the court that the South Side man be placed in a supervised community control program instead of prison.
When Judge Evans asked Whitted if he had anything to say, Whitted replied, "I just would like a second chance. This won't happen again."
Whitted told the judge he gets work through a temporary job service organization.
Judge Evans said he was troubled that Whitted completed only ninth grade, so he added another provision to his supervised release: Whitted must work toward getting his general education development diploma.
He also found out that Whitted doesn't have a driver's license.
"In order for you to get a good job, you must have your GED and you have to learn how to drive so you can get to the job," the judge said.
Judge Evans reminded Whitted before he released him that if he violated any terms of his supervised release, "I will put you in prison for a year."