43
Man gets probation for drug trafficking
YOUNGSTOWN
A shooting victim, who became a suspect after police found drugs in his car and home, will spend the next five years on probation for having the illegal substance.
Alynn S. Grant, 32, of Liberty Road, appeared this week before Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for sentencing on a charge of trafficking in marijuana.
Grant had been indicted in September on charges of trafficking in marijuana and trafficking in cocaine with forfeiture specifications for a Cadillac and $13,000. A plea agreement with prosecutors led to the dismissal of trafficking-in-cocaine charge.
The case against Grant began with the new boyfriend of his former girlfriend shooting him four times in the back and once in the leg. Police, while investigating that shooting, found the drugs and cash inside his home and car.
Grant appeared in court Friday still wearing a leg brace from the gunshot wound. He is scheduled for more surgery next month.
The man who shot Grant, Casimiro Ellis, 29, of East Avondale Avenue, has pleaded guilty to attempted murder and illegal possession of a gun. He is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 9 by Judge Lou D’Apolito of common pleas court.
J. Michael Thompson, an assistant county prosecutor, told the court the prosecutor’s office did take into account the special circumstances around Grant’s case when accepting the plea deal. The office made a recommendation of probation for Grant.
Atty. James Gentile, representing Grant, told the court his client had only one misdemeanor conviction for domestic violence before the drug charges and was employed. He said the situation started with the shooting from which his client has suffered dearly.
“This was his girlfriend’s new boyfriend who came to the house, and Mr. Grant was shot four times in the back and once in the leg. He had come home for lunch and tried to run in the house, and the guy shot him in the back,” Gentile said.
Judge Krichbaum, who had sentenced Ellis to 10 years in prison on a prior voluntary manslaughter charge, acknowledged the shooting, but said he could only consider the details of the drug charge before him for sentencing.
“People who sell drugs sicken my stomach. People who sell drugs belong in the penitentiary. That is how I feel, and that is what I do,” Judge Krichbaum said before taking a five-minute recess and asking Grant to explain to the court why he should not go to prison.
Grant ultimately told the judge he was sorry for his actions and, though he was raised in a good home with a father who is in law enforcement, took the wrong route and began dabbling in drugs. He said he hopes to find a decent job and show his children right from wrong.