Municipal Court

LISBON — In Columbiana County Municipal Court, a pretrial was set Feb. 27 for Jose Rene Andino, 26, McDonald, Pa., charged with engaging in prostitution and possessing criminal tools for allegedly responding to an undercover ad placed by the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force and arranging for sexual activity with a female in exchange for $240. He then traveled to East Palestine on Dec. 26 for the meeting, with the phone used to make the arrangements in his possession.

Joseph Long, 47, last known address East Fourth Street, Salem, was fined $100 for possession of drug paraphernalia for allegedly possessing a small plastic baggy with an unknown substance after being found passed out in the laundry room of a property in the 200 block of East State Street, Salem on Dec. 27. He allegedly told police the baggy contained narcotics.

A pretrial was set March 11 for Hollie Blystone, no age listed, Pennsylvania Avenue, East Liverpool, charged with six counts of failure to file city income tax return for allegedly failing to file East Liverpool city income tax returns for tax years 2018 through 2023.

Common Pleas

New Cases

Tanner Bean, Pearl Street, Leetonia, vs. Keelie Bean, Southeast Boulevard, Salem; divorce sought.

Huntington National Bank, Columbus, vs. David M. Thompson, 15th Street, Wellsville, et al.; mortgage foreclosure sought.

Amy Watson, Columbiana Lisbon Road, Lisbon and Deborah Shingleton, Columbiana Lisbon Road, Lisbon, vs. Bradley J. Smith and Faith Webb, both Sherman Street, Lisbon; damages sought for 2022 traffic crash.

Docket Entries

U.S. Bank National Association v. Ralph Shane Merriman, et al.; case dismissed.

Crystal Holloway vs. Gary Holloway; divorce granted.

ABL Wholesale Distributors, Inc. vs. Omar’s Beverage Inc., et al.; $20,740 judgment granted to plaintiff.

Mariner Finance LLC vs. Mindi Raley; $3,403 judgment granted to plaintiff.

Stephen Hill, administrator of estate of Albert Buckley Jr., deceased, vs. Bentley Leasing Co., LLC, et al.; protective order issued regarding business information and documents for Senior Fit Wellness Program.

County Treasurer vs. Joe Dean Smith; delinquent property taxes paid, case dismissed.

County Treasurer vs. Betty Davis, et al.; delinquent property tax foreclosure sought for Ashbaugh Street, East Liverpool property.

County Treasurer vs. Advanced Training Group Worldwide Inc., et al.; delinquent property taxes paid, case dismissed.

County Treasurer vs. James Moraski, et al.; delinquent property taxes paid, case dismissed.

Grand Jury

LISBON — Isaac Faulkner, 23, East Fifth Street, Salem, was served Thursday with a secret indictment issued by the Columbiana County Grand Jury for aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, for allegedly possessing the drug known as MDA on Jan. 8, 2023.

Court News

LISBON — An East Liverpool man accused of robbing a gas station customer who was pumping gas at the time was sentenced to 18 months in prison for the third-degree robbery charge and other counts.

Charles Shelva Lee Bell II, 21, Ohio Avenue, appeared for sentencing recently in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court for charges from two separate indictments. Besides the robbery charge, other charges included misdemeanors of assault and theft and fourth-degree felony trespass in a habitation when a person is present or likely to be present.

The terms for the other charges were ordered served at the same time as the robbery sentence. Bell received credit for 113 days already served in jail.

Bell came up to a man at River City Fill Up in East Liverpool and sprayed him with pepper spray, then took his phone and car keys before fleeing the scene on Sept. 14, 2023. The robbery was originally a second-degree felony. For the trespass charge, he broke the front window of an East Liverpool residence on April 7, 2023 and entered the occupied home to get his video game system.

Also in Common Pleas Court:

— Joseph Quinn, 23, Market Street, East Liverpool, was ordered to serve 290 days in the county jail, with 178 days suspended, leaving a balance of 112 days still to serve for violating the terms of his intervention plan for two counts of fifth-degree felony theft, and single counts of misdemeanor theft, misdemeanor misuse of credit cards, fifth-degree felonies of possession of fentanyl-related compound and possession of heroin and misdemeanor possession of drugs. He had been placed on an intervention plan in June, with the plan now dishonorably terminated. He was accused of stealing wallets from two separate vehicles in East Liverpool on Feb. 29, 2024 and using the bank card of one victim at Main Land Gas Station. One of the theft charges dealt with $169 taken from one of the victims. Quinn also possessed fentanyl, heroin and xylazine on March 31, 2023.

— Justin Seibert, 41, Youngtown, was placed under community control for 24 months and must serve 30 days in the county jail after being sentenced for possession of cocaine, a fifth-degree felony, for possessing cocaine on March 20, 2022.

— Brent Miller, 39, state Route 45, Lisbon, was sentenced to a mandatory 60 months in prison plus an additional non-mandatory term of 22 months for a total sentence of 24 months in prison for third-degree felony operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse or combination of both-OVI and misdemeanor driving under suspension for driving impaired on April 8 and being previously convicted of felony OVI in 2019. Another OVI was dismissed. He received credit for 71 days already served in jail. Miller received a mandatory fine of $1,350 and his driver’s license was suspended for life.

— Morgan Gantz, 25, Steubenville, was placed on an intervention plan for 24 months after pleading guilty to fifth-degree felonies of possession of LSD and three counts aggravated possession of drugs for possessing LSD, MDMA, dimethylamphetamine and flualprazolam on Sept. 26, 2021.

— Richard Beagle II, 36, Givens Road, Wellsville, was placed on an intervention plan for 12 months after pleading guilty to aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, for possessing methamphetamine on July 17, 2022.