A Youngstown man who twice failed to show up for court hearings has started serving a sentence three-and-a-half years after investigators say he allowed a dog to die of heatstroke.

Thirty-two-year-old Raphael Carswell was booked into the Mahoning County jail Monday to begin serving 14-day sentence.

Carswell was charged in the summer of 2019 after Animal Charity found a dog left in the hot sun on Princess Avenue in Campbell.  The dog later died from heatstroke. 

Prosecutors say they reduced the felony animal cruelty charge to a misdemeanor in hopes of getting a conviction.

Carswell pleaded no contest and was found guilty of the charge in 2020.

After failing to appear for sentencing hearings in 2020 and 2021, Carswell was sentenced last month.

In addition to the two weeks in jail, a judge in Campbell Municipal Court ordered Carswell to pay Animal Charity $1,010 in restitution, and prohibited him from owning any animals during his five-year probation.