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Man sentenced on drug charges unsure of status of baby
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Donald Dunlap told a judge just before he was to be sentenced on drug charges in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court he wants “one more chance” because his son has recently come back into his life and he has a job.
Judge Anthony D’Apolito, however, was also equally concerned about the child Dunlap’s pregnant drug- addicted girlfriend is carrying, who Dunlap says he knows nothing about.
The judge sentenced Dunlap, 29, of Berlin Center, on Thursday to a year in prison in two separate drug cases from this year on charges of possession of heroin, aggravated possession of drugs and possession of drugs.
Dunlap’s attorney, James Wise, and Dunlap himself, asked if he could be sent to Community Corrections Association on Market Street and be placed in its treatment program for his sentence. Dunlap said he has a job, and he said he has just gotten to know his son again. He told the judge he was off drugs for awhile but started using again when his pregnant girlfriend began using them.
That prompted the judge to ask Dunlap how that child is doing. Dunlap said he was not even sure if his girlfriend had the baby yet. Judge D’Apolito said that concerned him,
Dunlap said his girlfriend is undergoing rehabilitation and he has no way of contacting her.
“I’d be very concerned if the mother of my child was using [drugs] while she was pregnant,” Judge D’Apolito said.
Judge D’Apolito said he has been dealing with someone addicted to heroin just about every day since he took office in January and the drug does not discriminate. He asked Dunlap why he should believe him when Dunlap said he is finally serious and wants to get clean for good.
Dunlap was sentenced to prison in 2013 on drug charges, and in September 2015 was sentenced to another year in prison on a probation violation on those same charges.
“You prioritize heroin over everything else,” Judge D’Apolito said. “I don’t know what you can tell me now that will convince me that everything is different.”
“I’m just asking for one chance,” Dunlap answered. “If I mess it up, I’ll take the consequences.”
Judge D’Apolito, however, said prison was necessary because a message has to be sent that people who prioritize heroin in their lives have to know it will cost them.
The judge said he would consider judicial release within six months, but he told Dunlap if he does not get a grip on his addiction he will probably be dead.
“If you don’t get a handle on this you’re not going to be around,” Judge D’Apolito told him.
In Mahoning County, that is becoming true for several people this year. Ashley Cuba of the Mahoning County Coroner’s Office said 54 people have died so far this year from drug overdoses, an increase of 14 over the same time period in 2016, and there are five pending overdose cases. Most of those deaths are from fentanyl, Cuba said.