2 sentenced in separate cases on drug, gun charges

March 21, 2019 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

For Judge Anthony D’Apolito, the twist on an old riddle is: What came first, the gun or the drugs?

Sentencing two defendants Wednesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court who each pleaded guilty in separate cases to weapons charges where drugs were involved, the judge said the two go together, and not in a good way.

“I’m not sure what came first, the chicken or the egg – or the gun or the drugs,” Judge D’Apolito said during the sentencing for 25-year-old Aaron Lee Rogers III. “The combination of them is going to get you hurt or killed. Or somebody else.”

Rogers, of West Hylda Avenue, was arrested last Sept. 27 in the backyard of a home on Cambridge Avenue after he ran from a car being chased by police. Reports said officers found a .40-caliber handgun with an extended magazine as well as $754 cash. Inside the car, police also found painkillers and sandwich bags.

Rogers pleaded guilty to charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of drugs and trafficking in drugs. Attorneys in the case recommended two years in the case, which Judge D’Apolito upheld.

The judge said he wants to see Rogers earn his GED while in prison. He told him that guns and drugs are never a good combination and to learn a trade in prison so he is never before a judge again.

Sentenced before Rogers was Tyreese Perry, 25, of Youngstown, who pleaded guilty to a charge of improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle. He was caught last July near Mill Creek Park for having a gun while running a stop sign. Perry has other prior convictions that bar him from owning a firearm, including past convictions on drug charges.

Attorneys in the case recommended probation, with the first six months to be spent in the county jail. Judge D’Apolito upheld that recommendation. The judge also asked Perry why he had a gun even though he is not allowed to own one. Perry said he needed it for protection.

“It’s dangerous out there, your Honor,” Perry said. “I ain’t got a beef with anyone. I’m just protecting myself.”

Perry said he wants to finish his sentence and move to Florida to be with his 1-year-old son. He said he plans on staying out of trouble.