Crescent-News.com - Area drug trafficker gets 24-year sentence

By TODD HELBERG

cnedit@crescent-news.com

One of the longest prison terms ever imposed for drug dealing in Defiance County was handed down Thursday in common pleas court.

Judge Joseph Schmenk sentenced Shermaine Ligon, 30, 1051 Ralston Ave., to a 24-year term on two counts of trafficking in crack cocaine, first- and second-degree felonies; two counts of trafficking in cocaine, second- and fourth-degree felonies; and two counts of permitting drug abuse, each a fifth-degree felony. He was also ordered to make $2,575 in restitution for drug transactions to a confidential informant during an investigation by the Multi-Area Narcotics (MAN Unit) Task Force.

A jury convicted Ligon of those charges following a trial last month in common pleas court.

The maximum sentence for the charges was 291/2 years imprisonment. Schmenk chose to follow the prison sentence recommendation made by assistant county prosecuting attorney Carson Slade.

Ligon was arrested in September following an undercover drug operation by the MAN Unit. The charges stated that from March 2-May 17, 2007 he sold 8.3 grams and 14 grams of cocaine on two occasions as well as 16.9 grams and 12.2 grams of crack cocaine in separate transactions.

Two of the charges had enhanced penalties because they occurred within 1,000 feet of a school and 100 feet of a juvenile, respectively. In the latter case, Slade said the juvenile was the child of Ligon's girlfriend.

The charges resulted in Ligon's third conviction on cocaine-related offenses.

Schmenk noted that Ligon was convicted of trafficking charges in 1998 and 2000, serving 70 months on the latter offense before being released in June 2006. According to Schmenk, Ligon's record also included other charges, including disorderly conduct just days after his release in 2006.

"That history together with this offense ... demonstrate that you're a continuing serious criminal who has no remorse for your behavior and you have no intention of modifying your behavior," Schmenk told Ligon.

He called Ligon "among the most serious" drug-trafficking offenders "that we've had."

Ligon continued to deny his guilt.

"I'm not guilty of these charges," he told Schmenk. "My lawyer didn't bring up a defense good enough to defend me and my innocence."

The attorney, Joe Benavides of Lima, noted that Ligon has "maintained his innocence throughout" and was employed at Campbell Soup Co., Napoleon, when he was arrested. He said Ligon obtained his college degree during his last prison stint, so he "has the potential to be a productive member of society."

But earlier Slade made note of Ligon's drug-trafficking record which has "gotten progressively serious." She said he's "never accepted responsibility for himself" and "never demonstrated any remorse."

Slade called Ligon one of the "most serious drug traffickers we've had in Defiance County."