Judge Christian sentences former honor student for heroin trafficking

YOUNGSTOWN

It’s safe to say not too many people appear before Judge Shirley J. Christian sporting a 3.77 grade point average and an invitation to join the National Honor Society.

While the judge told 33-year-old Robert Thurston of Lenox Avenue that she was impressed with his academic prowess, she also told him as he appeared for sentencing in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Tuesday on drug trafficking charges she has far too many people before her who are ravaged by drugs — either as addicts or as a victim of a crime committed by an addict.

She sentenced Thurston to a year in prison on a third degree felony charge of trafficking in heroin as well as a fifth degree charge of trafficking in heroin.

“I see people here every day with drug problems,” Judge Christian said. “I can’t overlook the seriousness of you trafficking in heroin.”

Read more of the judge's remarks and the sentence she handed Thurston's wife in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.