2 men receive long sentences for 2007 homicide

YOUNGSTOWN — Two defendants who pleaded guilty in the same homicide were sentenced to long prison terms one hour apart in the same court, but under sharply contrasting circumstances.

Michael W. Lee, who drew a 30-year prison term and had been disruptive in a March pretrial hearing, was sentenced under extraordinarily tight security precautions for the Nov. 18 shooting death of James E. Dow, 28, of South Lake-view Avenue.

As a precaution, Lee, 20, of Cordova Avenue, was strapped into a low-slung wheelchair and wheeled into the courtroom today by a deputy sheriff.

Maj. James Lewandowski, Sgt. Thomas DeGenova and five deputies guarded the courtroom, with three more deputies standing guard outside in Judge R. Scott Krichbaum’s chambers hallway in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Lee, however, remained calm, showed no emotion and made no statement at his sentencing.

But his tearful and apologetic co-defendant, Edward Taylor II, 19, of Hudson Avenue, who drew a 22-year prison term, stood before the judge under normal court security arrangements.

For the complete story, see Thursday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com.