3 sentenced in gun cases
Staff report
YOUNGSTOWN
Three city men were sentenced Friday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court in cases involving guns.
Judge Maureen Sweeney sentenced Braylon Paige, 21, to four years in prison after he pleaded guilty earlier this year to improper discharge of a firearm after he was accused of shooting at a group of people in September 2017 at Detroit Avenue and Gibson Street on the South Side.
Also sentenced by Judge Sweeney to probation was Timmogene Howell, 26, who pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, aggravated possession of drugs and two counts of trafficking in drugs.
Attorneys in Paige’s case recommended the sentence, and Paige apologized.
“I found out what I was doing out there wasn’t right,” Paige said. “I found out how I was living out there wasn’t right.”
Prosecutors recommended a year in prison for Howell.
In the courtroom of Judge John Durkin, Jason Winston, 33, was sentenced to four years’ probation after he pleaded guilty to four counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Assistant Prosecutor Nick Brevetta said Winston, a felon, had guns in his Compton Lane home that were found last year when city police served a search warrant investigating drug activity.
Judge Durkin said because Winston has had a spotless record since he was released from prison in 2007, he was inclined to grant probation, but he warned Winston if he is ever around guns again, he will go to prison.