Man gets 5 years in drug case

By John W. Goodwin Jr.

YOUNGSTOWN — A city man convicted of distributing heroin will spend the next five years behind bars — a length of time that did not make a judge happy.

An emotional Hasson “Haus” Floyd, 29, of Manhattan Avenue appeared before Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on Friday, asking the court to show leniency in his sentencing for trafficking in heroin and participating in a pattern of corrupt activity.

Floyd originally faced up to 24 years in prison but reached a plea agreement where he would face no more than eight years in prison upon pleading guilty. The prosecutor recommended a sentence of five years.

Floyd asked the court to consider a sentence of four years or less.

Judge Krichbaum sentenced Floyd to a total of five years on the charges. Floyd’s license will also be suspended, and he faces various community control stipulations upon release from prison.

Floyd had asked the judge to show some leniency and allow him to return home to his two young sons.

“I admit to my guilt and how whatever I did affected the community. Today is the beginning of a new start in my life. However this situation plays out, I want to get this over with and a new start,” Floyd said. “I want my sons to be proud of me.”

Judge Krichbaum, noting that Floyd was on probation for a 1998 manslaughter conviction at the time of his arrest, said five years is far less time than he would have received in his court without the plea agreement. He called any lighter sentence “Christmas in May.”

Speaking to Floyd’s reference to his two young sons, Judge Krichbaum said he does not want Floyd, with the activities in which he was involved, returning to the children.

“You have a lot of work to do to make your sons proud of you. You have a mountain to climb, and that is a good goal for you,” the judge said.

Floyd also asked the court if he could begin serving his sentence next week after his mother comes out of a planned surgical procedure. The judge’s response was absolutely not.

Floyd was arrested in December along with 10 other men in a drug-trafficking sweep of suppliers who police called major conduits of drugs to the suburbs. Floyd was named a significant player in the heroin organization.

jgoodwin@vindy.com