ST. CLAIRSVILLE — A Cleveland man will serve 11 years behind bars for drug possession and assaulting the police officers who attempted to arrest him in a 2017 case, and he will face further drug-related charges in an upcoming trial.

Cory Julius Smith was found guilty after a two-day trial of possession of cocaine and two counts of assault on a peace officer. Smith, 32, heard his sentence Monday before Belmont County Common Pleas Judge John Vavra.

Vavra said the charges stem from an attempted arrest by sheriff’s deputies and Bellaire police. During the trial, officers testified that Smith had drugs and threw the drugs under the vehicle.

A struggle ensued and one officer was bitten.

Vavra said afterward that more than 20 grams of drugs were found and that Smith escaped in that encounter. He was arrested on a warrant in November of 2018.

Smith’s attorney, Dennis McNamara, asked for less than the maximum sentence. He added that the officers did not occur serious injury.

“My record speaks for itself. I made some bad decisions,” Smith said.

“It will follow me the rest of my life. … Before I received these charges, I was taking steps to get my life in the right direction.”

Belmont County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Kevin Flanagan asked that Smith’s criminal history be considered in sentencing.

Vavra reviewed Smith’s prior felony convictions, including weapons under disability, escape, and trafficking in drugs. He added that Smith has served seven prison sentences in the past 14 years.

Vavra imposed a sentence of eight years for the possession charge, and one and a half years for each assault charge, to be served consecutively.

“Judge Vavra’s maximum sentence and comments to the defendant sent a powerful and clear message that high level drug possessors and traffickers will simply not be tolerated in this county,” Belmont County Prosecutor Dan Fry said. “Judge Vavra’s sentence today delivers a message that is loud and clear to Mr. Smith and anyone else who commits similar drug crimes.”

Fry added that the assault charges were also serious matters.

“These officers were just doing their jobs and didn’t deserve to be assaulted by the defendant,” Fry said.

Smith is also scheduled to go to trial next Thursday. He faces three counts of second-degree felony trafficking in drugs, and one count of third-degree felony trafficking in drugs, occurring Sept. 25, 2017.