Common Pleas

New Cases

Nicole Day, North Benton, and Shane Day, Beloit; dissolution sought.

Wilmington Savings Fund Society, Salt Lake City, Utah, vs. Larry Kimmel, East Main Street, East Palestine, et al.; mortgage foreclosure sought for East Man Street, East Palestine property.

Samantha Harris, Dover, and Matthew Murphy, Akron, vs. Christopher Mele, Lucretia Lane, Columbiana; personal injury claim from 2023 traffic accident.

Docket Entries

Rehannah Madden vs. Keven Madden II; divorce granted.

County Treasurer vs. American Health Care Inc., et al.; delinquent property tax foreclosure ordered for Miller Road, Lisbon.

County Treasurer vs. Russell Miller, et al.; delinquent propert taxes paid, case dismissed.

Grand Jury

LISBON — Two defendants served recently with secret indictments issued by the Columbiana County Grand Jury are facing drug charges.

Apryl Betteridge, 49, Belmar Street, East Liverpool, fifth-degree felonies of aggravated possession of drugs and possession of fentanyl-related compound for allegedly possessing methamphetamine and fentanyl on Sept. 21, 2022.

Glenn Galloway, 40, Chester, W.Va., aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, for allegedly possessing methamphetamine on June 26, 2020.

Court News

LISBON — An East Liverpool man accused of causing serious physical harm to a woman in May entered a guilty plea to felonious assault, a second-degree felony, and misdemeanor domestic violence.

JC J. Marcum, 51, Fisher Avenue, changed his plea to guilty during a recent hearing in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court, with sentencing set for Dec. 4.

Marcum had been charged for punching and kicking a woman multiple times in the face and body on May 16 and May 17 in East Liverpool. The woman received treatment at East Liverpool City Hospital and was found to have a broken orbital socket and jaw.

Also in Common Pleas Court:

— Bristen Lavant, 28, Smithfield Street, East Liverpool, pleaded guilty to third-degree felony tampering with evidence and misdemeanor resisting arrest, along with pleading guilty to prosecutor’s information on a new charge of possession of fentanyl-related compound, with sentencing set for Dec. 4. Lavant tried to hide a clear bag of white powder down his pants and then threw it to the ground, pulling away from officers and trying to flee on foot on March 5 in East Liverpool. He also possessed fentanyl.

— Robert M. Hoperich, 69, Somerset Drive, Salem, was ordered to serve up to six months at the Eastern Ohio Correction Center in Wintersville as a probationary requirement after being placed on probation for three years for four counts of aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony. For a forfeiture specification for money from a drug case, $200 will be forfeited. Hoperich possessed amphetamine and dexmethylphenidate on Sept. 10.2021 and possessed amphetamine and methylphenidate on Jan.5, 2022.

— Geoffrey Mathey, 50, Bank Street, Salem, who had been placed on probation for three years for aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, for possessing oxycodone on Sept. 9, 2021, also must forfeit $460 for a forfeiture specification for money from a drug case.

— Sherri Lanam, 35, Ravine Street, East Liverpool, pleaded guilty to fifth-degree felonies of aggravated possession of drugs, possession of cocaine and possession of fentanyl-related compound, with sentencing set for Dec. 4. Lanam possessed methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine on March 12, 2022.

— A competency evaluation was ordered by the Forensic Psychiatric Center of Northeast Ohio for Jenny Olmstead, 47, Lincoln Avenue, East Liverpool, currently in the county jail, who has a probation violating hearing pending for a domestic violence charge. She had been placed on probation on Feb. 25, 2022 for three years. Olmstead had been accused of hitting a man on Feb. 18, 2021.

— In a corrected court entry, Gene Wright, 39, New Cumberland, W.Va., was ordered to serve 97 days in jail as part of his probation, but was given credit for 97 days already served after pleading guilty to receiving stolen property, a fifth-degree felony, related to an incident April 4, 2016.

— Mikhail Prokopovich, 34, Madison, was sentenced to seven days in jail, with credit for seven days served, after pleading no contest and being found guilty of attempted abuse of harmful intoxicants. The alleged abuse of harmful intoxicants occurred on May 30, 2022.

— Cory Haueter, 37, Georgetown Road, Salem, was sentenced to 10 months in prison for aggravated possession of drugs for possessing methamphetamine on Nov. 19, 2020. He was given credit for one day served in jail. The prison term was ordered served at the same time as the seven-month prison terms he received earlier this month for two other drug cases for possessing methamphetamine on Jan. 26, 2021 and July 8, 2021.

— Chelsea Krol, 24, West Garfield Avenue, Salem, was ordered to serve 60 days in the county jail after being found in violation of her probation for improperly handling firearm in a motor vehicle, a fourth-degree felony. She possessed a loaded firearm in a vehicle on Aug. 1, 2021. The 60-day term was ordered served at the same time as the sentence in another case. She had been sentenced to 12 months in prison earlier this month for possession of hashish on July 14, 2022.

— Dustin Whaley, 28, North Market Street, Lisbon, was placed on probation for three yeas after pleading guilty to possession of cocaine, a fifth-degree felony. Whaley possessed cocaine on April 13, 2021.

— Andrea Banfield, 35, Smithfield Street, East Liverpool, was placed on probation for three years after pleading guilty to fifth-degree felonies of aggravated possession of drugs and possession of fentanyl-related compound, and misdemeanors of possession of drugs and illegal use or possession of drug paraphernalia. The charges all stem from Nov. 7, 2022 when she possessed methamphetamine, fentanyl-related compound, lorazepam and drug paraphernalia. The probation was ordered to be served at the same time as the probation for another drug charge for possessing methamphetamine on July 1, 2022. In that case, she was ordered to serve up to six months at the Eastern Ohio Correction Center in Lisbon.

— A Lisbon woman accused of attempting to harm a developmentally disabled female in her care last summer pleaded guilty recently in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court.

Teresa Kale, 51, entered the guilty pleas to a fourth-degree felony assault charge and a misdemeanor patient endangerment charge, with sentencing set for Dec. 18.

The indictment said she provoked and slapped the victim on July 26, 2022 while working as a developmental disabilities caretaker for Bala House in Columbiana County.

— John Slates, 76, Richmond, pleaded guilty to a lesser offense of fourth-degree felony attempted compelling prostitution, fifth-degree felony importuning, and fourth-degree felony attempted unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. Charges of possessing criminal tools and engaging in prostitution will be dismissed, with sentencing set for Nov. 30. Slates was accused of driving to Salem on Jan. 5 to meet an undercover agent posing as a 15-year-old girl for sexual conduct in exchange for $150.

— David Shaw, 58, Steubenville Pike Road, Lisbon, pleaded no contest and was found guilty of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs, a third-degree felony for an incident Oct. 23, 2022. Sentencing was set for Sept. 28.