Lynn man sentenced to prison for drugs

NEWBURYPORT – A Lynn man who was convicted by a Superior Court jury of drug dealing near a school zone in 2006 received seven and one-half years in state prison.Glen Todd, 32, of 100 Willow St., Lynn, went on trial earlier this week in Newburyport Superior Court on charges of possession with the intent to distribute cocaine and possession with the intent to distribute cocaine within a school zone.Jurors deliberated for about four hours returning a verdict of guilty Thursday afternoon.After the jury trial, a second jury-waived trial – a trial in which the judge decides the verdict – was held in which Judge Richard E. Welch, III, found Todd guilty of a subsequent offense stemming from a previous drug dealing case out of Lynn District Court.Welch sentenced Todd to the minimum mandatory punishment under the law, receiving five years in state prison for possession with the intent to distribute cocaine, subsequent offense, and given another two and one-half years for the school zone violation, which will commence after he serves the five years.In essence, Todd will have to serve the entire seven and one-half years in prison before he is released.Assistant District Attorney Karen H. Hopwood presented evidence during the trial that on the afternoon of Aug. 7, 2006 police caught Todd on Western Avenue with 13 twists of cocaine, nearly five grams, near the Fecteau-Leary Middle School.Detectives had observed Todd toss the bag of cocaine in the bushes prior to his arrest.Defense lawyer Rebecca Whitehill argued that the cocaine did not belong to Todd and that he was not near the bush where the cocaine was found, but the jury thought otherwise.Todd did not take the stand in his own defense.He had been free on his own personal recognizance since being arraigned in Superior Court.