Three sentenced in separate gun cases

March 27, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Three men not allowed to have guns because of prior felony convictions were sentenced in separate cases Thursday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Jamar Houser, 23, of Volney Road, was sentenced to nine months in prison by Judge Shirley Christian after he pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Houser at one point was being held for the 2010 murder of an elderly woman in the parking lot of a South Side church and faced the death penalty if convicted before the charges were dismissed because of new evidence.

He was arrested last June. Police responding to gunfire in the 3000 block of Hudson Avenue found a gun in a car he was driving.

Houser also was on probation from municipal court for a fight with his father and was in a probation hearing there before being taken to common pleas court. He apologized before Judge Christian and said he took responsibility for his actions and for making bad decisions. When she asked him what bad decision he made, he said: “Having a weapon while I’m not supposed to.”

Houser has felony convictions as an adult and a juvenile which bar him from having a weapon.

Sentenced to 18 months in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm by Judge R. Scott Krichbaum was Steven Filimon, 29, who has drug convictions in 2006 and 2007 that bar him from owning a weapon. He also faces federal gun and drug charges, which could land him in prison for 10 to 15 years.

Filimon’s attorney, Jeffrey Limbian, said Filimon knows he is facing a lot of potential prison time.

“I think he realizes the weight of the world is crashing down on him because of his foolish behavior,” Limbian said.

Filimon apologized to his judge and his family. As part of his plea, prosecutors will not oppose any request for judicial release, which can’t be made until he spends at least six months in prison.

Filimon had a gun when Coitsville police stopped him in November.

Also sentenced to 18 months in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm was Randolph Jeter, 26, who has a felony domestic- violence conviction in 2009 that bars him from having a weapon. He pleaded guilty to having a 9mm Ruger that was found in a 361 Edwards St. home where members of the Youngstown Police Department Vice Squad were serving a search warrant.

All three sentences were agreed upon between prosecutors and defense attorneys, which means they can not be appealed.