CLEVELAND, Ohio — A quadriplegic Akron man who orchestrated a series of heroin and methamphetamine deals through a voice-activated phone in his home was sentenced Tuesday to 17 1/2 years in federal prison.

Patrick Griffin, 31, was at the top of an operation that moved more than 13 pounds of methamphetamine and more than seven ounces of heroin throughout the operation, prosecutors said. Paralyzed by a shooting eight years ago, he is largely confined to a bed while at home and orchestrated the drug operation from there, including arranging for the movement of drugs from California.

He was one of eight people charged in the case in September. He pleaded guilty to a drug conspiracy charge in February.

Griffin was paralyzed from the neck down after being shot by Duwad Spaulding in 2011. He requires 24-hour care.

Spaulding was convicted of shooting Griffin and murdering two others. He is on death row.

Griffin breathes with the help of a ventilator and respirator and appeared in court Tuesday in a motorized wheelchair that made audible hisses and hums throughout the sentencing.

Housing Griffin in a prison will likely end up being a costly venture. His attorney Rhonda Kotnik said she believes the Federal Bureau of Prisons only has one facility – in Butner, North Carolina – that can tend to his medical needs.

However, both Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Daly and Chief U.S. District Judge Patricia Gaughan said a long sentence was warranted because he was given a break less than three years ago.

Griffin was one of two men charged by federal prosecutors for trying to extort former Ohio State University football running back Beanie Wells. The U.S. Probation Office recommended a sentence of between 33 and 41 months in federal prison.

However, U.S. District Judge Sara Lioi only gave him one years’ house arrest, five years’ probation and a $10,000 charitable donation when she sentenced him in August 2016. She did this because of the financial and logistical hurdles required to incarcerate Griffin.

Daly said Tuesday that Griffin squandered a gift he received from Lioi. Gaughan also noted the Akron federal judge’s lenient sentence in the extortion case.

Kotnik painted her client as who lives a solitary lifestyle because of his injuries and as someone who “just got caught up in his friends’ activities." She tried to minimize what prosecutors said was a very active and leading role in the drug case.

The attorney also asked the judge for the shortest sentence possible, citing a rough upbringing that included his mother getting shot by his father while he was an infant sitting on her lap.

Griffin apologized and said he learned a lot in the past year.

Gaughan said evidence in Griffin’s codefendants’ cases, including one from his former longtime girlfriend Natorria Clark, belied any suggestion that he was not leading the drug operation.

Griffin is out on bond. The judge allowed him to self-report to prison.

If you would like to comment on this story, please visit Tuesday’s crime and courts comments section.