Daquan Burse appeared with layer Kirk McVay for sentencing in Allen County Common Pleas Court on Monday morning.
Jessica Orozco | The Lima News
LIMA — A Lima man was sentenced to a total of 10 years in prison on Monday after a jury found him guilty of drug-related charges in January.
Daquan Burse, 24, was found guilty of second-degree felony possession of a fentanyl-related compound, third-degree felony trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound and third-degree felony trafficking in heroin. His community control for fourth-degree felony trespassing in a habitation in a separate case was revoked and added to his prison sentence due to his convictions by a jury.
Burse testified during the trial that he was addicted to fentanyl, so he began selling the drug to fund his habit. He was charged with trafficking after the West Central Ohio Crime Task Force set up three controlled drug buys between Burse and a confidential informant in 2020.
The informant gave police 4.93 grams of a substance that tested positive for fentanyl after a Feb. 3, 2020 transaction, according to the indictment. The second was at least five grams and tested negative for controlled substances.
Burse said he continued his habit, being arrested for drug possession after police took him into custody to sober up when he was found unconscious on a Lima resident’s porch in 2021. Police discovered two bags containing white substances on his person at the station.
One bag was found to contain acetaminophen, known commonly as Tylenol, pills and the other tramadol — an opioid pain medication — and fentanyl. Burse testified that he used the tramadol for pain resulting from a gunshot wound, and he had blended the pills in a friend’s blender that he knew to contain fentanyl so that he could get high while relieving his pain.
Burse’s lawyer, Kirk McVay, said Monday that the amount of drugs Burse sold increased because the confidential informant asked him for more “cut,” or a filler substance to increase the weight. One of the buys was in the vicinity of a school, but McVay said no children were present and it was not done on a street corner.
McVay said the confidential informant paid less for the drugs than he claimed and may have pocketed some of the money given to him for the purchases. He said Burse struggled with addiction during this time up until after his 2021 arrest, after losing six different people to whom he was close.
McVay said Burse recognizes his arrest and time in jail “probably saved his life,” as it kept him away from drugs.
Burse said he accepts “full responsibility” for his actions and he feels remorseful for putting his family through court hearings in his cases.
Burse told Allen County Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey Reed that he does not believe he deserves “double digits” in his sentence, but would accept and respect the judge’s decision.
Burse was supported during sentencing by a large group of family members.
Reed imposed 24 months prison for both trafficking charges, five years for the possession charge and 12 months for the 2019 trespassing case — all to be served consecutively. He ordered Burse to pay a $7,500 fine unless an affidavit of indigency stating he does not have the means to pay is filed.
Reed said he will calculate jailtime credit and award it toward Burse’s sentence. Burse can appeal the sentence within 30 days of it going on the court’s record.
Burse still faces firearms charges for allegedly firing a .22 caliber gun at a car containing three women in 2019. A jury in the January trial could not come to a verdict on the case, and a mistrial was declared.
