Man gets three years for trafficking drugs

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A Youngstown man received a three-year prison sentence Tuesday for trafficking in heroin and cocaine.

Louis Allen, 38, of Wesley Avenue, pleaded guilty in September to four counts of trafficking in heroin, two counts of trafficking in drugs and one count of trafficking in cocaine.

The charges are related to three separate incidents, prosecutors said.

Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court ordered multiple concurrent sentences resulting in a total of three years in prison.

Atty. Anthony Meranto, who represented Allen, said his client was trying to make money. Meranto acknowledged it was a “terrible life decision, especially given the impact heroin has had on the area.”

He asked the judge to credit his client for accepting the consequences of his actions.

Allen told the judge he wasn’t a criminal, and he was just trying to make money.

He became tearful as he talked about leaving his family.

“The worst thing was getting up and seeing my kids this morning ... telling them I got to go to prison,” Allen said.