Rochester man sentenced to 3 ½ years in prison for selling cocaine in Albion

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 September 2018 at 5:11 pm

ALBION – A Rochester man who admitted to selling cocaine in Albion on Aug. 30, 2017, was sentenced to 3 ½ years in state prison.

Jahquan E. Coleman, 26, faced up to 4 years in prison as part of a plea deal for attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree.

Judge Charles Zambito gave Coleman a break from the maximum sentence with 3 ½ years in prison, plus 3 years of post-release supervision. Because Coleman is a second-felony offender, the judge said he had to give Coleman at least 3 ½ years in prison.

Coleman has been in a drug treatment program while in the county jail.

“I would like to apologize today to the Town of Albion for the crimes I committed, for bringing drugs into the community,” Coleman said during sentencing this morning in County Court. “I know what I did was a terrible mistake.”

Coleman’s previous felony was for second-degree assault in Monroe County. He was convicted in April 2013.

“I feel you’re being sincere,” Zambito told Coleman. “You have a prior criminal history but it doesn’t involve drug sales.”

However, the judge said incarceration is warranted for the drug crime.

“It’s a serious problem and it affects a lot of people,” Zambito said.

In other cases:

• A Medina man was sentenced to six months in jail and five years of probation for setting his neighbor’s garage on fire.

Demetri Gordon, 24, faced arson, criminal mischief and burglary charges for the incident on Aug. 9, 2017 on South Main St.

“I apologize for everything I’ve done,” Gordon said in court today.

The fire was contained to the garage, which was attached to a house. Judge Zambito said the fire could have spread and caused more damage, even death.

“I agree with the district attorney that this is very serious and potentially life-threatening,” Zambito said.

There will be a hearing Oct. 18 to determine how much restitution Gordon needs to pay for the fire.

Todd Brown, 30, of Brockport pleaded guilty to attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree. He said he tried to sell cocaine in Orleans County on March 7, 2017.

As part of a plea deal, he faces up to 3 years in state prison and 2 years of post-release supervision when he is sentenced on Nov. 15. He also has to pay $930 restitution to the Orleans County Major Felony Crimes Task Force.

Breanna Eaton, 25, of Medina was terminated from a diversion program. If she had stayed drug-free and followed the rules of the program, a felony charge would have been dismissed and she would have been sentenced to a misdemeanor with no jail.

She will now be sentenced for fourth-degree grand larceny, which has a maximum of 1 to 3 years in state prison.

“She has tried her best,” her attorney Nathan Pace told the judge.

She will be sentenced Dec. 13.

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