LISBON — Anthony Mascarella, the 29-year-old Youngstown man arrested on warrants in November at a party launching his rap CD, was sentenced in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court last week to spend the next four and a half years in prison.

Mascarella had bench warrants from Columbiana County after failing to appear for sentencing on two cases, both dealing with possession of drugs and one being a second-degree felony for having more than 23 grams of heroin.

Assistant County Prosecutor Ryan Weikart said there may also be additional charges pending for Mascarella in Mahoning County, stemming from his arrest at the party where he was allegedly found with additional drugs, money and threw a stolen gun at the feet of a small child during the raid by the U.S. Marshal’s Office.

Defense attorney Dominic Frank told Judge C. Ashley Pike prior to sentencing he was requesting Mascarella be considered indigent and not be required to pay the $7,500 mandatory fine for the second-degree felony charge. Frank noted that while Mascarella seems to show large amounts of U.S. currency in his music videos, Mascarella has told him it was actually “prop money.”

However, Weikart countered that Mascarella’s rap videos “glorified” drug use and drug trafficking.

“He bragged to the members of the drug task force, he probably makes more money than they do in a month or even a year,” Weikart said.

Mascarella, who is also known as Duke, told Pike he knows he has made bad decisions in his life and making the rap videos and his music career was his way of trying to turn his life into something positive and something his children would like.

“I grew up without a dad myself,” Mascarella said. “I have four boys. I hate to have them go through what I went through … If you have any room in your heart to do something for me, and if not I am prepared to accept the consequences of my actions.”

Pike went with the four and a half year sentence proposed by Weikart and called Mascarella’s record dismal before urging him to make better choices when he gets out.

Besides a felony charge still pending against him for failing to appear for the sentencing hearing, Mascarella was also served last week with a secret indictment issued by the Columbiana County grand jury in December. The new charges from the latest indictment are two counts of trafficking in drugs along with a weapons specification for allegedly having a firearm while having a felony record. Mascarella allegedly sold a small amount of both heroin and cocaine on July 7, 2014.