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Alyssa Hilderbrand, Westward Way, Lisbon, and Keith Hilderbrand Jr., Westward Way, Lisbon; dissolution sought.
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JP Morgan Chase Bank vs Richard Crosfield, et al.; case reinstated to active docket.
PennyMac Loan Services, LLC vs. Gregory S. Clark, et al.; mortgage foreclosure ordered for Firestone Avenue, Columbiana property.
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Court News
LISBON -- A motion to suppress evidence seized during an Aug. 12, 2021 drug raid at the home of James Merino, 1069 Benton Road, Salem, has been overruled.
Merino's defense attorney, Pete Horvath, filed the motion to suppress in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court, claiming the search warrant wasn't based on sufficient probable cause. There was also a claim that the information in the affidavit for the search warrant was untimely.
Judge Scott Washam denied the motion, noting the search warrant and supporting affidavit did not relate to a single event but a substantial and ongoing police investigation of the defendant and that address starting in 2019 and continuing into 2021.
A final status hearing remains set for July 31, with a jury trial Aug. 7 in the case. Charges against Merino include third-degree felonies of tampering with evidence and having weapons under disability, fifth-degree felonies of possession of cocaine, aggravated possession of drugs and two counts possession of drugs and a misdemeanor obstructing official business charge.
The drugs involved included cocaine, methamphetamine, buprenorphine and alprazolam. He was barred from possessing guns due to a 1984 drug conviction, but multiple weapons were seized during the search.
Also in Common Pleas Court:
-- Corey M.S. Evans, 21, state Route 154, Negley, who was sentenced last July to nine years in prison for an aggravated vehicular homicide case, was ordered to be transported back to the county from the Lake Erie Correctional Institution for hearings related to drug charges. Evans was served earlier this year with a secret indictment for illegal conveyance of drugs of abuse onto the grounds of a special governmental facility, a third-degree felony, and aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony. Both charges stem from May 31, 2022 when he allegedly possessed methamphetamine and was an inmate at the county jail, awaiting sentencing on the vehicular homicide case. A status hearing is set for 1 p.m. July 31, with a jury trial set for Aug. 8. The charges from the 2021 fatal accident stemmed from the death of Evans' passenger, 15-year-old Angelica Rae Perkins.
-- Logan Winters, 28, state Route 154, Lisbon, was granted permission to participate in drug court, with a five-year period of rehabilitation, after pleading guilty to aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, for possessing MDMA, also known as ecstasy, on Jan. 28, 2021.
-- Michael Swiger, 43, Weirton, W.Va., was placed on probation for 30 months after pleading guilty to aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, for allegedly possessing methamphetamine on Feb. 3, 2022.
-- Leonard Young Jr., 37, Braddock, Pa., was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to improper handling a firearm in a motor vehicle, a fourth-degree felony, and having weapons while under disability, a third-degree felony. The term was ordered served at the same time as a prison sentence in Pennsylvania. A separate entry will be prepared for forfeiture of the firearm from the incident. Young was accused of possessing a 9mm semi-automatic handgun during a traffic stop on April 28, 2018. He had a prior robbery conviction from 2006 which prohibits him from having guns.
-- Anthony Linzey, 30, Struthers, was sentenced to 12 months in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor or impaired person, a fourth-degree felony, for possessing material involving minors on July 17, 2022. Two additional counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor or impaired person were dismissed. He received credit for 341 days already served in jail. He was deemed a Tier II sex offender requiring him to register his address with the sheriff's office.
-- Nathaniel Hodgson, 39, Arch Street, Salem, was ordered to serve up to six months at the Eastern Ohio Correction Center in Wintersville for violating the terms of his intervention plan for aggravated possession of drugs, a fourth-degree felony, for possessing methamphetamine on Nov. 21, 2021. The charge included a forfeiture specification for $192. He was originally also charged with trafficking in drugs. Hodgson had his intervention plan dishonorably terminated and he was placed under community control until March 2, 2026.
-- Justine McGee, 31, Quincy Avenue, Columbiana, was ordered to serve up to six months at the Eastern Ohio Correction Center in Lisbon for violating the terms of her intervention plan for aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony. She'll remain under community control through Dec. 5, 2025. McGee possessed methamphetamine on March 11, 2021.
-- William Faulkner, 35, Gromley Road, Salem, was ordered to spend 42 days in jail after violating his probation again for charges of aggravated possession of drugs, aggravated possession of heroin and possession of fentanyl-related compound, all fifth-degree felonies from two separate cases. His probation was dishonorably terminated. The charges stemmed from Faulkner possessing methamphetamine on Aug. 6, 2019 and possessing heroin and fentanyl-related compound on June 29, 2019.