MTS_widgetCallback({"24_0": "
","23_0": "A federal appeals court has rejected the appeal and upheld the more than eight-year prison sentence of a Lorain man sentenced last year for dealing cocaine and heroin across Northeast Ohio and illegally owning a gun.
Following his conviction, Prince Brown appealed five issues to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.
He argued that he did not receive a speedy trial, that his request to withdraw his guilty plea was improperly denied, that he wasn't allowed to change attorneys, and that his sentence was unreasonable both procedurally and overall.
But, a three-judge panel decided, federal prosecutors pointed "to Brown’s plea agreement to paint a different picture, instead submitting that Brown cannot seek any of the relief requested because he waived each of these issues," Senior Judge R. Guy Cole Jr. wrote on behalf of himself and Judges Eric Clay and Raymond Kethledge in a decision handed down Monday.
Brown pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possession with intent to distribute cocaine and heroin, possession of a firearm as a felon and other drug charges in U.S. District Court in Cleveland in March 2022.
For selling cocaine and heroin in Lorain County between January 2019 and September 2020 and illegally possessing a firearm in violation of his status as a convicted felon, Brown was sentenced to eight years and nine months in prison in July 2022.
Brown and other men "engaged in a drug trafficking conspiracy that purchased large quantities of cocaine and heroin and redistributed the drugs to other traffickers in Cleveland, Lorain and Elyria," the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio said following his sentencing.
When arrested in Cleveland, Brown had 96 grams of heroin, other illegal drugs, a loaded gun and $20,000 in cash on him, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The Elyria and Lorain police departments, the Lorain County Drug Task Force, the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration took part in the investigation.
Brown's co-defendants all received federal prison sentences ranging from one to 13 years behind bars, according to court records.