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Man gets jail time in stolen gun case
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
When Judge R. Scott Krichbaum told Anthony Jackson in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court that he only places people he trusts on probation, Jackson told the judge he could be trusted.
But Judge Krichbaum was not satisfied with the answer the 36-year-old Jackson gave him Tuesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court during a sentencing hearing about where Jackson got a stolen gun. So, he was sentenced to the maximum term of probation with the first six months to be spent in the county jail.
Jackson pleaded guilty to a fourth-degree felony charge of improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle after he was arrested in March following a traffic stop by Mill Creek MetroParks Police, and they found a stolen .45-caliber handgun in his car.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys were recommending probation and a pre-sentence report also recommended probation. The case is Jackson’s first felony, although he does have several misdemeanor and minor misdemeanor convictions.
Judge Krichbaum said he was skeptical about probation because of Jackson’s past record, and he asked Jackson where he got the gun. At first, Jackson seemed confused.
“You want his name?” Jackson asked.
“It’s a simple question,” Judge Krichbaum responded.
Jackson said the man who sold him the gun goes by the name of “Toothman.” Judge Krichbaum was still not satisfied and said that was too vague, but Jackson protested that he barely knew the man, saying the person does not live around here. He also told the judge when he was stopped by police he had just purchased the gun and was on his way home with it. The judge said he was skeptical of that as well.
Jackson had a simple answer when asked by the judge why he needs a gun in the first place.
“It’s too crazy out there,” Jackson said. “I don’t get in no trouble or nothing. I just bought it for protection for my house.”
Judge Krichbaum said he did not think Jackson should go to prison, and he also said for a fourth-degree felony he could not put him there. But he said he was dissatisfied with his answers about where and how he got the gun, and was also troubled because he was on probation from another court, so he ordered the maximum five years probation with the six-month jail sentence and also refused a request for Jackson to be eligible for work release.