Convicted man gets 13 years

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A 32-year-old man convicted by a jury last month of robbing two Cleveland men at gunpoint inside a van last September is going to prison for 13 years.

Judge John M. Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court imposed the sentence Thursday on Jermaine Watson of South Truesdale Avenue.

Citing Watson’s two prior convictions for cocaine trafficking and one prior conviction for aggravated assault, Jennifer McLaughlin, an assistant county prosecutor, recommended the 13-year prison term.

Watson could have gotten anywhere between six and 23 years in prison.

The Clevelanders said they went to a woman’s East Side home in Youngstown, seeking to buy a car.

Watson entered a van with them, and that woman and another woman got out near Overland Avenue and Cleveland Street. Watson then pointed a gun at both men and demanded money, the men said.

One of the men handed more than $150 before Watson ordered both victims out of the van.

Youngstown police later arrested Watson on Ayers Street.

“That’s a lot of time to be away from my kids,” Watson said of the 13-year prison term recommended by McLaughlin.

In response to Watson’s plea for mercy, Judge Durkin said Watson should have thought about his children before he decided to engage in criminal behavior.

Watson will be on parole for five years after he leaves prison.