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Man gets 2 years on drug trafficking charges
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Brian Benson will be in prison when his paraplegic son undergoes surgery soon.
Judge Lou D’Apolito of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court sentenced Benson on Wednesday to two years behind bars in two separate cases for selling cocaine.
Judge D’Apolito told Benson, 47, of Trussit Avenue, that as a parent his son deserves better, and he hopes the prison sentence will keep Benson from missing any more time with his son by showing him what can happen when he breaks the law.
“If that doesn’t get you to change your life, then nothing on this earth will,” Judge D’Apolito said.
Benson pleaded guilty to felony counts of trafficking in cocaine in one case and, in another case, pleaded guilty to felony charges of possession of drugs and possession of cocaine. As part of his plea, he must also forfeit $2,365.
The sentence was agreed upon by Assistant Prosecutor Kenneth Cardinal and defense attorney J. Gerald Ingram.
Cardinal said both cases were indicted in 2017. The Mahoning Valley Law Enforcement Task Force handled both investigations. He said Benson was selling large amounts of cocaine.
The cases were made with undercover buys, Cardinal said.
Ingram asked Judge D’Apolito to honor the agreed-upon sentence, saying prison will get his client’s attention, and he took responsibility for what he did.
“Mr. Benson is old enough to know better,” Ingram told the judge.
Benson apologized as well. He said his prison sentence has brought home the reality of what will happen in the future if he sells drugs again.