A Richmond jury recommended a 30-year prison sentence yesterday for a man convicted as a second offender of the possession of heroin with intent to distribute law.
If a judge imposes the recommended sentence, prosecutors say it would be the longest prison term in recent memory for a drug conviction in Richmond Circuit Court.
The average sentence for convictions on comparable charges is about two years, said Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill.
The defendant, Edward Antaion Baker, 28, was arrested Feb. 25 near a convenience store at Fairmount Avenue and Mosby Street in the city's East End.
In testimony yesterday, a police officer described the parking lot area as the worst open-air drug market in the First Precinct, Baskervill said. It's across the street from Martin Luther King Middle School.
While under police surveillance, Baker was seen flagging down cars and performing what looked like a drug transaction behind a trash bin, Baskervill said. Police found 38 hits of heroin on him.
Baskervill praised the jury's verdict. "It made it very clear that the community's sick of that," she said. "This was definitely an area that really had a negative impact on the community."
Formal sentencing is Nov. 16. -- Reed Williams
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