YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — A man who pleaded guilty to federal drug charges after two undercover buys at his South Side home was sentenced Friday to 11 and a half years in prison.

Bryan Harris, 37, of Akron, received the sentence in the U.S. Northern District Court of Ohio from U.S. Judge Christopher A. Boyko on charges of distribution of crack cocaine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Federal prosecutors were seeking a sentence of 150 months in prison.

A sentencing memorandum in the case by the government said Harris sold crack cocaine from April 1 from his home on East Auburndale Avenue and again on April 15.

When a federal search warrant was served May 6, agents found cocaine, crystal methamphetamine and three guns, along with a digital scale and several cell phones.

Harris was free after his arraignment on $20,000 unsecured bond, but he was arrested Dec. 2 in Akron and faces second-degree felony charges of drug trafficking and drug abuse that have yet to be bound over from Akron Municipal Court, the memorandum stated. At the time he was arrested in Akron, he had 26 grams of crack cocaine, drug ledgers, a scale and $1,340 cash.

One reason the government sought a 150-month sentence is that he kept guns which he is not allowed to have in a house where he was selling drugs, their memorandum said. Also, the government said that Harris already has several criminal convictions.

In his own sentencing memorandum, Harris’ attorney Marcus Sidoti asked for a shorter sentence, saying he grew up in a home where his mother was addicted to drugs and his father was in prison.

Harris moved to Akron when he was 10 and was already abusing several substances by that time, Sidoti wrote. He was using both heroin and methamphetamine before he got sober in 2021 thanks to a prison counseling program, Sidoti wrote.

Sidoti termed his client’s past criminal history as “small time” and one that is consistent with a person who abuses drugs. He also noted that his client was cooperative with investigators.