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Man to serve sentence imposed in '12
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
It took almost two years, but a city man will be serving a jail sentence that was imposed on him in 2012.
Donald Frampton, 28, of Halls Heights, was ordered to serve a 360-day sentence that was imposed in 2012 that he never served. The situation was corrected Tuesday when the city dismissed felony drug-trafficking charges against him in municipal court.
The charges stem from a 2011 case in which Frampton pleaded no contest to two counts of aggravated menacing and was found guilty by Judge Robert Milich.
But there was a mistake on a sentencing order, and by the time authorities corrected it, he was no longer in the jail, said city Prosecutor Dana Lantz.
Court records show he was granted house arrest June 14, 2012, the day he entered his no-contest plea and was found guilty. He was brought back Aug. 1, 2012, for sentencing after he violated terms of his house arrest and was given two-consecutive sentences of 180 days for each count.
In September 2012, he was allowed to attend drug treatment at an inpatient facility, and his sentence was stayed. However, on Nov. 1, 2012, he was ordered back to the jail because he did not complete the treatment.
In its judgment entry, though, the court incorrectly referred to the entry granting house arrest June 14, 2012. When the mistake was found and he was ordered to serve his sentence Dec. 4, 2012, Frampton was in a drug-treatment facility again for an unrelated case in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, Lantz said.
Lantz said Frampton was told that he would have to serve the sentences but he eluded authorities until he was arrested last week by members of the Mahoning Valley Law Enforcement Task Force as part of a drug investigation.
On Aug. 27, a federal grand jury indicted Frampton on charges of distribution of heroin, two counts of possession with intent to distribute heroin and being a felon in possession of a firearm. His indictment said that he was convicted of failure to comply and felonious assault, which prohibits him from having a weapon, but on July 3 he was found with a .38-caliber revolver, .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol, a .20-gauge shotgun and a .303 rifle.
His case is pending in federal court. Lantz said if federal prosecutors want him in custody, they can ask a judge to transfer him to their custody. Lantz said the city decided to dismiss the charges because of the pending charges in federal court.