DA: Erie fentanyl dealer should get more prison time – News – GoErie.com

Antoun Moore was made eligible for parole at his sentencing for dealing the deadly synthetic opioid.

The Erie County District Attorney’s Office is pushing for a harsher sentence for a convicted fentanyl dealer who was made eligible for parole at his sentencing last week.

The defendant, 20-year-old Antoun D. Moore Jr., received seven to 18 months in the Erie County Prison Thursday from Erie County Judge Daniel Brabender, who gave Moore credit for time already served in prison.

The sentence made Moore eligible for parole, although he has remained incarcerated at the Erie County Prison while he awaits prosecution on other charges — including another case involving fentanyl, the powerful synthetic opioid that has been responsible for thousands of overdose deaths nationwide.

In a motion filed Tuesday, Assistant District Attorney Paul Sellers argued Moore should have received a lengthier prison term at Thursday’s sentencing.

“The sentence imposed does not accurately reflect the severity of the charge, the Defendant’s incorrigibility and the fact that he was making tens of thousands of dollars off the sale of fentanyl into a community ravaged by the drug,” Sellers wrote.

Erie police charged that Moore possessed more than 7 grams of fentanyl, more than $22,000 in cash and a .38-caliber revolver at a residence in the 3200 block of Wallace Street on Oct. 3, 2017.

At Thursday’s sentencing, Moore apologized for selling fentanyl.

“I know it was bad,” he said. “I apologize for distributing that in the community.”

Sellers wrote that the sentencing guidelines Brabender used to determine Moore’s sentence were incorrect and should have called for a longer prison term. He also argued that Moore’s credit for time served in prison should not have been applied to the sentence delivered Thursday.

“Application of credit at this docket downplays the significance of the offense, … and focuses more on making him eligible for parole as soon as possible than on the Defendant’s participation in the scourge of fentanyl and the problem of gun violence in this community,” Sellers wrote.

Moore’s lawyer in the October 2017 case, David Ridge, will have a chance to respond to the request. He declined to comment Tuesday and said he had not seen the motion.

Moore is still awaiting prosecution on charges that he possessed more than 46 grams of a heroin and fentanyl substance at an East Seventh Street residence on Aug. 16, while he was free on bail in the October 2017 fentanyl case.

Madeleine O’Neill can be reached at 870-1728 or by email. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ETNoneill.