Facing a lengthy prison sentence, a Franklin man convicted of multiple drug trafficking counts said he hoped to use the incarceration to improve his life.

Adrian Nolan, 42, was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court to 260 months in prison on charges of possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute, possession of cocaine base with the intent to distribute, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.

Nolan has been in custody since his arrest in Bowling Green on Dec. 31, 2019, when law enforcement serving a warrant found him in possession of about 13.5 ounces of meth, about 89 grams of cocaine and a handgun.

He reached a plea agreement which dismissed additional charges relating to the execution of a warrant at his Franklin apartment in 2017 resulting in the seizure of additional drugs.

Federal prosecutors sought a lengthy sentence for Nolan based on his prior criminal record, which includes a previous federal drug conviction.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Yurchisin said that after Nolan came off supervised release tied to his previous prison sentence, he resumed dealing drugs.

Yurchisin filed a sentencing memorandum asking the court to impose a sentence of 26 years and 10 months, noting that Nolan’s tied him to 2.57 pounds of meth, 3.83 ounces of fentanyl and about an ounce of heroin along with crack and powder cocaine and marijuana.

“When you think of the term ‘career offender,’ Mr. Nolan’s history would be one you look at and think, ‘yeah, that’s a career offender,’ ” Yurchisin said in court Monday.

Nolan’s attorney, federal public defender Angela Rea, requested a 15-year sentence, the mandatory minimum for Nolan based on the charges against him and his prior criminal history.

Rea noted that both of Nolan’s parents were drug users and that he began using multiple drugs at a young age, and that the sentence he were to receive would likely represent the last chance for him to plan for a future away from criminal activity.

Nolan addressed the court, telling U.S. District Court Chief Judge Greg Stivers that he had a “hard life” and that he was largely raised by his grandmother, who now has cancer.

“My grandmother, she was my anchor, and knowing she might not be around anymore (when I’m released) is punishment in itself,” Nolan said. “I want to take the steps to get into a substance abuse program and try my best to let you know this life is no longer for me.”

Stivers weighed Nolan’s drug-scarred home life against his crimes when fashioning the sentence.

“Reading the pre-sentence report, I can’t escape the feeling this person never had a chance, and that certainly is a reason for leniency,” Stivers said, before going on to note that Nolan wasted little time after his previous incarceration to resume selling drugs and was tied to a “cornucopia” of controlled substances. “I get the impression that Mr. Nolan had his own private drugstore,” Stivers said. “Any drug you wanted in Franklin, Kentucky, he had.”