Norwich resident Phillip Anderson pleaded guilty to drug and weapon charges Monday rather than go to trial and risk being sentenced to decades in prison.

Anderson, 40, will be sentenced Sept. 10 to 6 1/2 years in prison followed by 7 1/2 years of special parole for criminal possession of a weapon and possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell. He pleaded guilty under the Alford Doctrine, which indicates he does not agree to all the state's facts but does not want to risk a harsher sentence if convicted at trial.

Prosecutor David J. Smith and defense attorney Peter E. Scillieri had selected a jury and were arguing pretrial motions before Judge Barbara Bailey Jongbloed when Anderson decided to accept the state's plea offer. A judge had warned him last month that if the jury found him guilty of the seven offenses, he could receive an enhanced sentence of up to 76 years in prison because of his prior record.

Anderson was arrested in September 2013 after police received a complaint about a disturbance at a large party at 53 Convent Ave. involving a gun. Police said they found Anderson in possession of a loaded 9 mm handgun and crack cocaine. Anderson's brother, Darrio Anderson, was also arrested and was sentenced in July 2013 to a three-year sentence, followed by five years of probation, for possession of narcotics with intent to sell.

One of the jurors selected in the case was called back for questioning last week after court officer Martha Jenssen found that somebody had written "HANG EM' HIGH!" on a whiteboard in the room where he and other jurors had waited to be questioned. The man said he had not seen the message and was kept as a juror. The author of the message remains unknown.

k.florin@theday.com

Twitter: @KFLORIN