STEUBENVILLE — A Steubenville woman who left the nursing profession behind to peddle illegal drugs will have to spend at least nine years behind bars, Jefferson Common Pleas Judge Michelle Miller said Wednesday.

Miller sentenced Cherie Nelson, 56, formerly of Lawson Avenue, to up to 10 1/2 years in prison — the first eight of them mandatory — for trafficking drugs, plus another year, also mandatory, for using a firearm during commission of the crimes.

Nelson also forfeited the $1,430 in cash in her possession at the time of her arrest and her 1997 Jeep Wrangler, both deemed proceeds of her illicit drug dealings, as well as the gun she armed herself with during the deals.

In addition to serving at least nine years behind bars, Miller is required to pay a $10,000 fine and will be on community control when she’s finally released from custody.

“This is exactly what happens when defendants choose the lifestyle of running with the county’s most prolific narcotics dealers and helping those dealers spread their poison throughout our community,” Prosecuting Attorney Jane Hanlin said. “This defendant threw away her nursing license for the quick money associated with the drug trade. When her co-defendant was in jail, she picked up the baton and continued distributing cocaine and fentanyl to our most vulnerable citizens. Hopefully, this serves as a warning to others who might be tempted to behave in this manner.”

Nelson and two co-defendants, Lavocni Jerome Brown, 71, and Lionel R. Lindsey, 51, were arrested one year ago after the Jefferson County Task Force found what was described as “massive amounts” of cocaine and fentanyl in their homes and other properties owned by them. Authorities said Brown, in the Jefferson County Jail at the time of the raids on an unrelated misdemeanor, controlled the drug operation, even giving the other two orders even from behind bars.

Both men previously pleaded guilty and were sentenced:

• Brown is serving at least 16 years in prison and forfeited a 2014 Cadillac CTS, a 2018 Audi A6, a 2020 Chevrolet Suburban and $6,540 in cash, all deemed proceeds of the drug trafficking operation.

• Lindsey was sentenced spend at least 14 years behind bars and forfeited the $163,909 in cash in his possession at the time of his arrest plus eight vehicles — among them a Mercedes-Benz, a Bentley Continental, a GMC Yukon, two Audis, an Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme and two motorcycles.