Saturday, April 23, 2011  03:06 AM

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/04/23/drug-dealer-gets-15-year-sentence.html?sid=101

A Westerville man who distributed cocaine and marijuana from the mid-1990s until he was arrested in April 2010 will spend 15 years in federal prison.

Adam Jerome Kennedy, 39, of 747 E. College Ave., was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court for conspiracy to sell cocaine and marijuana; possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The charges grew out of an investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Investigation and Identification, the Internal Revenue Service and the Franklin County sheriff's office. He signed a plea agreement in September.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin W. Kelley called Kennedy "a notorious drug dealer" who held legitimate jobs during much of his drug dealing. Several sobbing relatives begged Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr. to have mercy on Kennedy because he had been a good father and had supported his family.

The investigation, recounted in court Thursday, found that Kennedy had worked as a car salesman at H&E Auto Sales, 1180 Joyce Ave., where he unloaded marijuana and cocaine concealed in produce and other products during 2006 and '07. Kennedy repackaged the marijuana in the homes of co-defendants.