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Even with charge dropped, man still gets two years in prison
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Lewer Dent, 27, pleaded guilty to charges of possession of drugs and possession of LSD.
The only problem: He had no LSD.
Assistant Prosecutor Michael Yacavone explained the situation Thursday to Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Police said several pills found on Dent, of Boardman, who was sentenced to two years in prison, were LSD. But the pills were not LSD, according to lab results of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
The pills weren’t an illegal controlled substance, so Yacavone said he wanted to dismiss the LSD charge and proceed with sentencing.
Judge Krichbaum asked how someone could be indicted on a charge if authorities didn’t know what substance the person was accused of having.
Yacavone said there was a provision in the plea agreement if the drugs turned out not to be LSD, that charge would be dismissed. Yacavone said police at the scene thought the drugs found were LSD, and a field test they did showed they were LSD. But further BCI tests, however, proved otherwise.
“We had the officer’s opinion it was LSD,” Yacavone said.
Dent was arrested with two other men after members of the city police department’s vice squad and Community Police Unit served a search warrant in May at an Oak Hill Avenue home Dent was in. Inside the house, police found more than 3,400 pills and almost $2,300 in cash. The possession-of-drugs charge Dent pleaded guilty to was for possession of painkillers.
Yacavone and defense attorney Walter Ritchie recommended a sentence of 18 months for Dent, who was out on bond for a probation violation when he was arrested.
Yacavone said Dent was supposed to cooperate with other agencies in their drug investigations, which was why he was given bond in the first place, but he failed to deliver.
“He didn’t even come close to what he was supposed to do,” Yacavone said. Judge Krichbaum also noted Dent has served two other prison terms for drug offenses.
Dent said he did not stay at the house but was only there to get some things when police served the warrant. The sentence Judge Krichbaum gave Dent exceeded the recommended sentence by six months. The other two defendants have not yet been sentenced.