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Judge includes jail as part of probation in weapons case
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Jonahthun Green was all set to receive probation on a weapons charge Tuesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
A presentence investigation recommended probation for the 21-year-old Green, of Burbank Avenue, and attorneys in the case agreed to recommend to the judge whatever sentence the PSI called for.
But Judge R. Scott Krichbaum said he was troubled by the recommendation because Green was carrying a gun – even though he knew he was not allowed to have one. And, Green ran from police when he was arrested in August.
Judge Krichbaum gave Green five years’ probation – the most he is allowed to by law. And he also ordered the first six months of that probation to be served in the Mahoning County jail.
“I’m going to do my part to stop people from carrying illegal weapons,” Judge Krichbaum said.
Green pleaded guilty to a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm, a third-degree felony. He was arrested Aug. 20 after reports said he fled troopers from the Canfield post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol who tried to pull him over on Logan Avenue for a traffic violation. Police found a revolver at a fence that Green jumped, reports said.
Green ran from his car but was caught by troopers and city police. Judge Krichbaum said that Green has several convictions as a juvenile that bar him from owning a firearm.
Green’s lawyer, Jeffrey Limbian, said his client wants to get his concealed carry permit at some point, but Judge Krichbaum said that even if that were true, Green should not have been carrying a gun when he was arrested, and the judge said Green already knew that.
Judge Krichbaum said that because of Green’s juvenile record, he will never be able to legally have a firearm.
“You can’t get this fixed,” Judge Krichbaum said. “You will never carry a gun again. You have no right to do that.”