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Youngstown man gets nearly 12 years for heroin trafficking
YOUNGSTOWN
A Youngstown man has been sentenced to 11 years and eight months in federal prison for his role in a Georgia-to-Youngstown heroin-trafficking ring.
Melvin E. Johnson, 30, the last of six defendants to be sentenced in this case, drew the prison time Tuesday from U.S. District Judge James S. Gwin in Cleveland.
Johnson also got a two-year prison term for violating his current term of federal supervised release, one year of it consecutive to the sentence in this case, meaning he’ll serve a total of 12 years and eight months in prison.
He’ll also have to pay $1,200 in special assessments, and he’ll be on five years of supervised release after prison.
A jury convicted Johnson in March of conspiracy to distribute heroin, conspiracy to engage in money-laundering and 10 counts of using a telephone to facilitate drug trafficking.
The ring operated between January 2013 and November 2014, according to the indictment.
Vincent D. Moorer, 31, of Lithonia, Ga., supplied heroin to Johnson, who, in turn, supplied the drug to others to sell in the Youngstown area, the indictment said.
Moorer drew eight years and four months in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin and conspiracy to launder money.
After pleading guilty to the same charges, his sister, Keyonia M. Moorer, 35, of Akron, got three years and four months in prison, and Charity A. Cousin, 29, of Warren, got 30 months in prison.
Another defendant, Jabbar D. Spires, 38, of Youngstown, got 30 months in prison after a jury convicted him of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin and three counts of using a telephone to facilitate drug trafficking.
John Angelo Smith, 37, of Youngstown, got 46 months in prison after pleading guilty to five counts of using a telephone to facilitate drug trafficking.
The case was prosecuted by David M. Toepfer and Jason Matthew Katz, both Youngstown-based assistant U.S. attorneys, and Phillip J. Tripi, a Cleveland-based assistant U.S. attorney.