STEUBENVILLE – A Jefferson County Common Pleas Court jury deliberated about 35 minutes Tuesday afternoon before finding a city man guilty of gun crimes.

The jury found Corey J. Lyons, 28, of Steubenville guilty on felony charges of having a weapon after being prohibited because of a federal drug conviction, tampering with evidence and carrying a concealed weapon, and a misdemeanor charge of failure to comply with the order of a police officer.

Judge Joseph Bruzzese Jr. sentenced Lyons to six and one-half years in prison.

Police Capt. John Lemal testified on Tuesday that he was on patrol in the early morning hours of Jan. 18, 2015, and was driving past Club 106 on South Street when he heard females saying there was a fight outside the club. He said he was able to get the females separated with some of the women going back into the club.

He said he heard a metal object hit the ground behind him and saw a handgun on the ground.

Lemal said he was securing the gun and saw three females and Lyons walking away from the club. Lemal said he told the group to stop, with the women complying. Lemal said Lyons started walking faster. Lyons reached toward his belt and removed a loaded handgun and threw it down on the ground by a vehicle, Lemal said. He said Lyons then ran from the scene.

Prosecutor Jane Hanlin told the jury both handguns were reported stolen. She said DNA tests conducted by a state crime lab showed a DNA mix of several people on the gun thrown by Lyons. Hanlin said DNA isn’t needed in the case because Lemal saw Lyons throw down the gun.

Defense attorney Aaron Miller told the jury some cases aren’t as simple as they appear. Miller claimed there were inconsistencies in Lemal’s report. He said officers never interviewed other people who were at Club 106 that night.

“It is not only about what officers did but what they didn’t do,” Miller said.

Friends of Lyons testified they were with him that night and didn’t see Lyons with a gun. They said they went into liquor establishments, including Club 106, which have metal detectors.

Lyons was sentenced in 2008 in federal court in Wheeling to serve 97 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute more than 50 grams of cocaine from Steubenville into West Virginia.

Lyons was arrested at a home in the 1300 block of Oak Grove Avenue after a raid by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency and local and county law enforcement officers.

(Law can be contacted at mlaw@heraldstaronline.com.)