AUBURN -- A Lyons man was sentenced in Cayuga County Court Tuesday to six years in prison, two years of post-release supervision and $327 in state fees after pleading guilty to multiple drug and weapons charges.

Maurice Southall, 27, was sentenced on four counts of criminal possession of narcotics and two counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance. He was also sentenced on misdemeanor charges of weapons possession and drug use.

Southall was arrested in November, 2006 at a Cato Hotel. Police seized an ounce of cocaine as well as marijuana and a pistol-grip shotgun after a search. Southall's indictment also included charges connected to separate drug sales in Weedsport and Montezuma.

Arrested with Southall was Marshall Miller, who pleaded guilty in March to third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance and was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison and two or three years of post-release supervision.

Southall initially pleaded not guilty in June, but admitted to his charges on the opening day of his trial. He was facing up to 27 years in prison.

Before sentencing, Chief Assistant District Attorney Jon Budelmann requested the maximum punishment, saying that an out of town drug dealer moving large amounts of cocaine with a shotgun was a "dangerous mix."

But defense attorney Douglas Bates said Tuesday that it would be "unfair" to give a harsher sentence, since it was never Southall's desire to go to trial. The defendant wrote a letter to Cayuga County Court Judge Thomas Leone expressing this before his trial, Bates said.

Southall issued an apologetic statement before receiving his sentence from Cayuga County Surrogate Judge Mark Fandrich, saying he wished to "get on with (his) life."

For more, read Wednesday's Citizen