Former fugitive gets prison for cocaine trafficking, burglary

A former fugitive who was wanted for several months for selling cocaine out of a Mentor bar was sentenced Dec. 20 to 7 1/2 years in prison.

Darryl Lee Howard, 37, of Mentor, was arrested on a warrant in August after a lengthy search by the U.S. Marshals Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

Howard previously pleaded guilty in Lake County Common Pleas Court to trafficking about 25 grams of cocaine with several co-defendants in 2015.

“There was quite an extensive operation going on at (the tavern), and you had a pretty big part, Mr. Howard,” Judge John P. O’Donnell said.

The judge sentenced Howard to four years for

the drug charge, plus additional time on two unrelated cases that occurred after the trafficking incident.

“In July 2016, you had a tampering with evidence charge out of Fairport Harbor in which you attempted to conceal heroin and cocaine from the police,” O’Donnell said. “Then in June 2017, you removed about $12,500 in jewelry from your wife’s mother’s (Mentor) home.”

The judge also noted that Howard had a lengthy criminal record and served two previous stints in prison. Assistant Lake County Public Defender Aaron Schwartz said his client was too nervous to speak on his own behalf at sentencing. Special Lake County Prosecutor Marisa Cornachio requested that $13,500 in cash, a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu and cellphones found in Howard’s possession during the commission of the crimes be forfeited.

Assistant County Prosecutor Nick Giegerich successfully

argued that all three charges were separate incidents, and thus should be served one at a time rather than concurrently.

“The burglary victim lost family heirlooms that she will never get back, and we believe that deserves separate punishment,” he said.

O’Donnell also ordered Howard to reimburse the burglary victim $500 for her insurance deductible.

Howard