Court News

LISBON — An East Liverpool man accused of causing serious physical harm to a woman in May was ordered to prison for an indefinite term of four to six years.

JC J. Marcum, 51, Fisher Avenue, appeared for sentencing recently in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court for felonious assault, a second-degree felony, and misdemeanor domestic violence.

The indefinite term means he must serve four years, then the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections can decide whether to keep him up to a maximum six years, depending on his behavior in prison. A 180-day jail term for the domestic violence charge was ordered served at the same time as the prison term. He was given credit for 268 days already served.

Marcum had been charged for punching and kicking a woman multiple times in the face and body on May 16 and May 17 last year 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:

— Brandon Byers, 31, 18th Street, Wellsville, was sentenced to an indefinite term of three to four and a half years in prison for second-degree felony burglary and an additional six months in prison for fourth-degree felony domestic violence, meaning he must serve at least three and a half years in prison. The indefinite term means then the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections can decide whether to keep him longer for the burglary, depending on his behavior in prison. He received credit for 248 days already served in jail on the burglary charge and 25 days credit for the domestic violence. Byers was accused of striking another man with a closed fist in a vehicle on April 29, 2023 in East Liverpool and entering a residence on June 6, 2023 with the purpose of committing theft.

— A supplemental motion to suppress was overuled in a case against Ronald Middleton Jr., 56, West Pidgeon Road, Salem, who’s charged with aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, and third-degree felony possession of marijuana, both with specifications for forfeiture of money in a drug case. Middleton was accused of possessing methamphetamine, $415 and marijuana in an amount equal to or exceeding 1,000 grams, but less than 5,000 grams on Aug. 24, 2021 during a search of his residence. A previous challenge to the search warrant had already been dismissed, then a supplemental motion to suppress was filed in July, claiming the warrant did not specifically identity marijuana as an item to be seized. Judge Scott Washam found the search warrant was proper and noted it specified any and all controlled substances. In 2021, Washam noted marijuana was a controlled substance.

— Kashmire Wiggens, 22, Detroit, Mich., pleaded guilty to aggravated possession of drugs, a second-degree felony, with sentencing set for April 26. A charge of possession of controlled substance analog, a fourth-degree felony, will be dismissed. Wiggens was originally accused of possessing methamphetamine in an amount exceeding five times bulk but less than 50 times bulk and a controlled substance exceeding 10 grams but less than 20 grams on July 17, 2022.

— Jeremy Brown, 47, 18th Street Heights, Wellsville, was sentenced to 60 days in jail, with credit for 37 days served, leaving a balance of 23 days to serve in jail, for violating his probation for two counts of nonsupport of dependents, a fifth-degree felony, in a 2005 case for failing to pay child support. His probation was dishonorably terminated.

— Katie Riley, 33, Ohio Avenue, East Liverpool, was placed on probation for 30 months after pleading guilty to trespass in a habitation, a fourth-degree felony. She was ordered to have no contact with the victim. Riley broke a door to enter a woman’s home on June 25, 2022 in East Liverpool, telling the woman she was looking for her boyfriend and broke a picture frame while there.

— Lyle Foster, 35, Garfield Street, East Liverpool, was sentenced to 180 days in the county jail, with credit for 164 days served, leaving 16 days still to serve after violating his probation for three fourth-degree felony counts of failure to provide notice of change of address and two misdemeanor counts of falsification. His probation was dishonorably terminated. As a sex offender, he’s required to verify and report any change of address and failed to do so in 2018, 2019 and 2020 and gave false statements to investigators on two occasions in 2019.

— Dustin Andrews, 25, state Route 170, East Palestine, was sentenced to 12 months in prison after pleading guilty to fifth-degree felony possession of cocaine and fourth-degree felony illegal conveyance of drugs of abuse onto the grounds of a specified governmental facility. He received credit for 34 days served in the one case and three days credit in the cocaine possession case. A charge of aggravated possession of drugs was dismissed. Andrews was accused of allegedly possessing psilocyn and taking the drugs onto the grounds of a detention facility on Oct. 7, 2022 and for possessing cocaine on March 7, 2023.

— Mercedes Dawn Simpson, 32, Beaver Falls, Pa., was placed on probation for two years after pleading guilty to fourth-degree felony failure to verify address for failing to verify her address on June 11, 2022 as required of a registered sex offender.

— Dustin Brooks, 37, Vine Street, East Liverpool, was sentenced to 180 days in the county jail, with credit for 83 days served, leaving 97 days still to serve in jail after pleading guilty to two counts fifth-degree felony violation of a protection order for being at a Vine Street, East Liverpool residence in violation of a protection order on Nov. 15.