A Lancaster County judge recently imposed the maximum sentence on a New York City man arrested here on drug charges.
Lashley Dacosta Downes Jr., 26, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was sentenced by Judge Dennis Reinaker to a total of 6 to 15 years in state prison for possessing cocaine and receiving stolen property, a handgun.
Downes had a second address in the 900 block of East King Street, where he was arrested in 2007 by members of the county's Drug Task Force.
Assistant District Attorney Ryan Boop said Downes also was convicted of possessing marijuana and drug paraphernalia in his trial last November.
Reinaker imposed the maximum sentence of 5 to 10 years on the cocaine charge, Boop said, plus a consecutive sentence of 1 to 5-years on the gun violation.
Downes was given concurrent probation for the remaining two charges.
According to news reports at the time, detectives found $4,700 in cash inside Downes' apartment, along with a small amount of marijuana and cocaine.
When Downes drove up to the scene, detectives searched the car and found a loaded handgun wrapped in a man's T-shirt underneath the passenger seat.
The gun, a .357 revolver, had been reported stolen to Lancaster city police.
The Task Force then obtained a search warrant for Downes' other vehicle, police said at the time, and found bulk powder and crack cocaine in it.