Prison sentence upheld for local heroin dealer

The conviction and prison sentence of a local heroin dealer who pleaded guilty last year to multiple felony charges has been affirmed by the Ohio 6th District Court of Appeals in Toledo.

Bryant Boyd, 41, of Port Clinton, pleaded guilty in April 2017 to two felony drug trafficking charges, a felony aggravated drug possession charge, and a misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia charge.

According to the Ottawa County Drug Task Force, Boyd was reportedly selling cocaine and fentanyl, a synthetic opioid more up to 50 times more potent than heroin, out of a Port Clinton home in January 2017.

The home was the subject of a raid early last year by the Ottawa County drug task force where their officers reportedly seized suspected heroin, cutting agents, a digital scale containing possible drug residue, and packaging materials commonly used to traffic drugs, according to task force commander Carl Rider.

Boyd appealed both his conviction and sentence later that month. James Popil, Boyd’s court-appointed attorney for the appeal, raised three issues in which he argued the county court erred.

Popil argued the court made a reversible error by not granting Boyd credit for eight months served in the county jail prior to his guilty plea and sentence. The prosecution argued that jail time was due to a different, unrelated case from 2016.

In its decision released Friday, the appeals court cited Ohio law, which requires jail credit only be granted for time served for reasons arising out of the offense for which a defendant is convicted and sentenced.

The appeals court noted that, in this instance, Boyd’s two offenses occurred on different dates and involved different drugs, and the crimes alleged in the 2016 case were separate and apart from the offenses he was convicted and sentenced for in 2017.

In the appeal, Boyd also argued he had insufficient counsel, an assertion to which the appeals court found no merit.

Lastly, Popil argued the court record did not support Boyd’s sentence. However, the appeals court noted that Boyd admitted to the elements of each offense that he was sentenced for and that the record does contain a faction basis for the guilty finding.

As a result, the 6th District Court of Appeals affirmed Boyd’s conviction and sentence.

Boyd has had a lengthy criminal record in Ottawa County dating back more than a decade.

He previously was accused of assaulting and robbing a woman in July 2016, but the accuser later recanted her story in a sworn affidavit and the charges were subsequently dismissed.

In a 2015 incident, Boyd was accused of barging into a Port Clinton home in the middle of the night and threatening the resident. According to court records, he was sentenced to 21 days in county jail for menacing.

In 2006, Boyd was convicted of trafficking drugs and possession of dangerous drugs, both fifth-degree felonies. Several other counts on which he also was convicted were later dismissed and he was released in 2013.

When Boyd is released from prison for his most recent sentence, he will be subject to three years of post-release control, or parole.

jstinchcom@gannett.com