Convicted Seneca drug dealer to stay in prison

This past August, convicted drug dealer Shaun Johnson filed a motion in the Seneca County Court seeking to be re-sentenced to a lesser term pursuant to the Drug Law Reform Act of 2009, which allows certain class B felony drug offenders serving lengthy prison sentences to be re-sentenced to lesser determinate sentences.In 2000, Johnson was convicted in Seneca County of three class B felony drug offenses and was sentenced, as a second felony offender, to a term of 6 to 12 years. The defendant was subsequently released to parole supervision, but violated the conditions of his parole release and was returned to state prison to serve out the remainder of his sentence.Seneca County District Attorney Barry Porsch opposed Johnson’s request for a lesser sentence. Porsch argued that the defendant, a re-incarcerated parole violator, was not eligible to be re-sentenced under the 2009 Drug Law Reform Act in that he had previously been released on parole from custody on his drug conviction, but re-incarcerated for the parole violation. The Seneca County Court agreed with Porsch, and denied the defendant’s motion. The defendant, who will complete his sentence in 2011, has filed an appeal from the Court’s decision.