Youngstown drug dealer pleads guilty

Staff report

AKRON

A Youngstown man, who has pleaded guilty to selling heroin that resulted in a fatal overdose, as well as additional firearms and narcotics crimes, could spend decades in prison, a U.S. attorney said.

Lebron Charles Bunkley, 38, admitted to selling heroin to a man identified in court documents as J.P., who was found dead in a vacant lot May 15, still clutching a hypodermic needle.

A search of his cellular phone revealed that his last outgoing call was to Bunkley, according to court documents.

Police searched Bunkley’s house May 18 and found 286 grams of heroin, 345 grams of powder cocaine, 84 grams of crack cocaine, two firearms and ammunition. There are 28 grams in an ounce.

Bunkley pleaded guilty Wednesday to distributing heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine, being a felon in possession of firearms and using firearms and ammunition in furtherance of the drug trafficking.

He will be sentenced here at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 7 by U.S. District Court Judge John R. Adams. Federal sentencing guidelines call for between 21 and 27 years in prison in Bunkley’s case, according to court documents.

However, David M. Toe-pfer, the Youngstown-based assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting the case, said Bunkley could get up to life in prison and be fined up to $10 million.

“We will continue to prosecute and seek stiff sentences for dealers who sell heroin that kills our neighbors,” said Carole S. Rendon, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

“Aggressive enforcement will remain part of the comprehensive strategy – along with treatment, education and changing prescribing practices – required to combat this epidemic,” Rendon added.

The case was investigated by the Mahoning Valley Law Enforcement Task Force, the FBI and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Bunkley has prior convictions for attempted cocaine possession, assault, failure to comply with a police order, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking and being a felon with a gun.