Defendant has till Tuesday to make up his mind in drug case

By Joe Gorman

jgorman@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

One way or another, Judge Shirley J. Christian is getting her oldest case on her docket off the books.

During a hearing Thursday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, she allowed Nathan Logan, 36, until 10 a.m. Tuesday to make a decision: He can accept a plea offer of seven years in prison with at least four mandatory, or roll the dice and go to trial, where, if convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 88 years in prison on eight first-degree felonies. And, that does not include time he could receive for other charges he faces.

If Logan decides he does not want to accept a plea bargain, then the case will go to trial, Judge Christian said.

Logan, of Kirk Road, faces five felony counts of trafficking in cocaine, plus other felony counts of possession of cocaine, funding drug trafficking and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, as well as felony counts of tampering with records and money laundering. Those charges carry maximum penalties of three years each.

Logan and three other people were indicted in April 2014 on drug-trafficking charges, including his brother, Keland Logan, 35, but Nathan Logan’s case has yet to be resolved.

Keland Logan entered a guilty plea to a felony charge in September 2014 and was given one years’ probation.

The case predates Judge Christian’s appointment to the bench October 2014 to take the place of former Judge James C. Evans, who retired earlier in 2014.

Police said the four were selling drugs and hiding the money by making and producing rap records with it.

Alan Rouse, 30, another co-defendant, had his drug case dismissed after plea negotiations in October 2014, and Marcell Mims, 27, was sentenced to three years in prison in March this year.

Assistant Prosecutor Martin Desmond said his last offer to Nathan Logan was seven years in prison, all mandatory, but he modified that to four years mandatory plus an additional three years if he is not eligible for judicial release.

Desmond said the case has taken so long because Nathan Logan has had two lawyers. A motion-to-suppress evidence hearing also took some time as well, Judge Christian said.

Judge Christian said she was reluctant to allow the case to linger any longer because it has been more than two years since the indictment.

She said Desmond’s offer seemed reasonable. She urged Logan to ponder taking the plea because another offer may not be as generous.