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Common Pleas
New Cases
Ivan Turner, Buck Road, Salem, and Julie Turner, Salem-Alliance Road, Salem; dissolution sought.
Docket Entries
County Treasurer vs. Robert Cheuvront; delinquent property tax foreclosure ordered for Steubenville Pike Road, Hammondsville property.
County Treasurer vs. Warren Louden, et e.; complaint dismissed.
County Treasurer vs. Edward Edling Jr.; delinquent property tax foreclosure ordered for Ohio Boulevard and Maryland Avenue, Salem properties.
County Treasurer vs. Randall Stover, et al.; delinquent property tax foreclosure ordered for Y&O Road, East Liverpool property.
County Treasurer vs. James Hill, et al.; delinquent property tax foreclosure ordered for Avondale Street and Oak Street, East Liverpool properties.
Jay Cargnel vs. Chelsea Cargnel; divorce granted.
Nathaniel Gordon and Yvonna Parsons; dissolution granted.
Joshua McGuire and Hali McGuire; dissolution granted.
Blair Ferry and Kyle Ferry; dissolution granted.
MidFirst Bank vs. Paul Smalley, et al.; mortgage foreclosure ordered for Center Township property.
Northwest Bank vs. Brittany Milliron, et al.; $33,034 judgment granted to plaintiff, plus $1,853 interest and $170 late charges.
Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC vs. George Hagerman; judgment for $148,999 revived.
Grand Jury
LISBON -- A Niles man accused of taking drugs into a detention facility was served Tuesday with a secret indictment issued by the Columbiana County Grand Jury for three felony counts.
John Dennis Lanam, 44, was charged with third-degree felonies of aggravated possession of drugs and illegal conveyance of drugs of abuse onto the grounds of a specified governmental facility and fifth-degree felony possession of cocaine for allegedly possessing methamphetamine in an amount equal or greater than bulk but less than five times bulk, possessing cocaine and taking drugs into a detention facility on June 16 in Columbiana County.
Court News
LISBON -- A Negley woman accused of using illegal means to receive funds from the Norfolk Southern Assistance Center will face sentencing Nov. 26 after her motion to withdraw her guilty plea was denied.
Melissa Blake, 42, Quay Road, pleaded guilty in August in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court to fourth-degree felonies of falsification in a theft offense and grand theft and fifth-degree felony forgery, along with misdemeanor possession of drugs. Sentencing had been set for Sept. 13, but was canceled after she filed a motion to withdraw plea.
The motion to withdraw plea was recently denied, with the court noting that a "change of heart" is not a valid reason to allow a defendant to withdraw a plea prior to sentencing, referring to the appeals court repeatedly holding that a "change of heart" isn't enough.
Blake was accused of collecting $19,690 from Norfolk Southern for a forged rent deposit and fake rental agreement related to being displaced after the 2023 train crash. She was also accused of making false statements. The time period was listed on the indictment as Feb. 5, 2023 to Aug. 31, 2023. In a separate case, she possessed methamphetamine on Sept. 12, 2022 and pleaded guilty to an amended charge. The original charge was aggravated possession of drugs.
Also in Common Pleas Court:
-- Robert J. Anderson III, 45, Dutchtown School Road, Rogers, entered a guilty plea on the morning a jury trial was supposed to start in his case. He pleaded guilty to fourth-degree felony disrupting public services and fifth-degree felonies of vandalism and possessing criminal tools. A misdemeanor theft charge will be dismissed. Anderson was accused of possessing bolt cutters and cutting a piece of AT&T wire and attempting to remove it in Lisbon on Nov. 28, 2023, with the wire valued in excess of $1,000.
-- Tarah Desatnik, 39, Middle Street, Homeworth, pleaded guilty to fourth-degree felony vehicular assault, amended from third-degree felony aggravated vehicular assault, along with a misdemeanor of endangering children, with sentencing set for Jan. 9. Two misdemeanor counts of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs will be dismissed. The charges all stemmed from an incident July 28, 2022 when she was accused of causing serious physical harm to a child while operating a Chevy Equinox.
-- Kenneth Zellers, 58, Main Street, Wellsville, pleaded guilty to theft, a fifth-degree felony, with sentencing set for Dec. 12 for depriving the Veterans Affairs Office of $4,000 from Dec. 1, 2022 to July 31, 2023.
-- A defense motion for acquittal in the case against Shanika Simmons, 41, Youngstown, has been denied, with the outcome of the case still pending. She had been scheduled for sentencing Oct. 3, but another defense motion, this time for a new trial, has been filed. A jury found her guilty on July 29 of fourth-degree felony promoting prostitution. Simmons had been accused of agreeing to provide sexual services and bring along a second female to provide sexual services in exchange for $450, arriving in East Palestine on Aug. 2, 2022 for the meeting with an undercover agent who posed as a buyer of sex online.
-- Molly Jackson, 30, Ninth Avenue, East Liverpool, was ordered to serve 120 days in jail, with credit for 20 days already served, leaving a balance of 100 days still to serve in jail for violating her probation for illegal use of supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits or WIC program benefits, a third-degree felony. The charge stemmed from illegal use of program benefits from Sept. 1, 2018 through Aug. 31, 2020.
-- James Perry, 44, East Ruby Drive, East Liverpool, pleaded guilty to attempted intimidation of an attorney, victim or witness in a criminal case, a misdemeanor amended from a felony, with charges of fourth-degree felony strangulation and misdemeanor domestic violence dismissed. Perry was placed under community control for 12 months and ordered to serve 90 days in the county jail, with 87 days suspended and credit for three days served. He was accused of grabbing a juvenile by the throat and pushing her against a door during a domestic on March 9 in St. Clair Township.
-- Bryant Rather, 37, McKeesport, Pa., pleaded guilty to fourth-degree felony improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle and misdemeanor falsification for having a loaded firearm that was accessible in a vehicle and making a false statement on Dec. 2, 2017. Sentencing was set for Dec. 19.
-- Michael Hover, 34, West Ninth Street, Salem, pleaded guilty to fifth-degree felony receiving stolen property for possessing two stolen personal checks on March 9. Charges of theft and passing bad checks were dismissed. Sentencing was set for Oct. 10.
-- Christopher Stevens, 35, Wilbert Avenue, East Liverpool, pleaded guilty to fifth-degree felony nonsupport of dependents for failing to pay child support for one child from July 4, 2021, to July 2, 2023. Sentencing was set for Oct. 17.
-- Jamie Allen Jr., 25, South Lincoln Avenue, Salem, pleaded guilty to third-degree felony burglary and misdemeanor petty theft for trespassing in a residence and stealing a resident's Xbox headphones on Aug. 7, 2019. Sentencing was set for Nov. 1.
-- Mandy Hale, 34, Canton, pleaded guilty to fifth-degree felony aggravated possession of drugs for possessing methamphetamine on March 18. Sentencing was set for Jan 9.
-- Nicolas Ortiz, 24, Dover, pleaded guilty to fifth-degree felonies of importuning and attempted unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and misdemeanor possessing criminal tools, with sentencing set for Jan. 9. He was accused of requesting sexual conduct from an undercover agent posing online as a 15-year-old female in exchange for $100 and then driving to Salem on March 8 for the meeting. He was originally charged with a third-degree felony charge of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. A charge of fifth-degree felony compelling prostitution will be dismissed.
-- Chase McDonald, 18, Pittsburgh, Pa., pleaded guilty to trespassing in a habitation when a person is present or likely to be present, with sentencing set for Dec. 19 McDonald was accused of trespassing in a residence when it was likely to be occupied on July 28.