Man pleads guilty to drug charges

YOUNGSTOWN — An Austintown man has pleaded guilty to four counts of cocaine trafficking and agreed to forfeit $17,125 in ill-gotten gains.

Stanford B. Lovett, 53, of Wilcox Road entered his guilty pleas Thursday before Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, who will sentence him at 8:30 a.m. April 24.

The offenses occurred in October 2007. Lovett was secretly indicted in December. He could be sentenced up to 13 years in prison and fined up to $30,000.

In the plea agreement, the prosecution agreed to drop six other cocaine trafficking counts, a cocaine possession count and one count each of marijuana possession and trafficking.

Robert Duffrin, assistant county prosecutor, said Lovett frequently sold cocaine from his garage. Duffrin asked that Lovett, who is in ill health, received a complete medical examination before sentencing, and Duffrin said the prosecution would make a sentencing recommendation based on that exam.

Judge Krichbaum scolded Lovett for dressing informally in a sweater and blue jeans in his court. “The next time you come to my court, you better be properly dressed, or I’m going to put you in jail for contempt,” the judge told Lovett, who is free on bond.