Common Pleas

New Cases

Philadelphia Howells, state Route 164, Lisbon, vs. Christopher Howells, Lynchburg Road, Kensington; divorce sought.

Docket Entries

Catherine Morgan vs. Joseph Recklaw; divorce granted.

County Treasurer vs Craig Osberg, et al.; payment plan entered, case stayed.

County Treasurer vs. Devon Reeder, now known as Backus; payment plan entered, case stayed.

County Treasurer vs. Larry Hodge, et al.; delinquent property taxes paid, case dismissed.

Lakeview Loan Servicing, LLC vs. Melissa Baker, et al.; foreclosure complaint dismissed.

Marriage Licenses

Greig McClintock, 74, Lisbon, retired, and Nancy Gardner, 63, Lisbon, secretary/clerk.

Brian Fattler, 51, Kensington, self employed, and Julie Galbreath, 48, Kensington, nurse.

Brent Taggart, 58, East Liverpool, retired, and Angela Butcher, 58, East Liverpool, nurse.

Grand Jury

LISBON — An East Liverpool man accused of possessing images of child pornography was served recently with a secret indictment issued by the Columbiana County Grand Jury.

Timothy Gregg, 36, Riverview Street, East Liverpool, was charged with three counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor or impaired person, a fourth-degree felony, and five counts of illegal use of a minor or impaired person in a nudity-oriented material or performance. The indictment alleged that the date of the offenses was Feb. 14, 2024.

Also served with a secret indictment was Myquia McCoy, 26, Bacon Avenue, East Palestine, charged with aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, for allegedly possessing methamphetamine on July 20, 2024.

Municipal

LISBON — In Columbiana County Municipal Court, cases against Thomas Edward Gough, 28, Lisbon Street, East Liverpool, were bound over to the county grand jury for felonious assault, a second-degree felony, fifth-degree felony strangulation and misdemeanors of domestic violence and aggravated menacing for allegedly strangling a woman twice during one incident and attempting to cause physical harm to the woman by allegedly attacking her with a sharp hook-like object, forcing her to hold his hand in place to not cut her on Feb. 22 in East Liverpool. He also allegedly threatened to burn her house down and got on top of her and held a fork to her chest threatening to stab her. He was fined $50 for driving under suspension, with a charge of expired plates dismissed.

A preliminary/pretrial hearing was set March 10 for Amos M. Wallace, 49, Youngstown, charged with fourth-degree felony assault and misdemeanor resisting arrest, operating a vehicle impaired second offense, OVI refusal with prior within 20 years, driving under suspension, restricted tinted glass, tail lights violation and no seat belt. Wallace was accused of allegedly elbowing a trooper in the mouth while the trooper was double locking the handcuffs after taking him into custody for being impaired during a traffic stop on March 2 in Middleton Township. He also wasn’t following the trooper’s commands to place his hands behind his back.

A preliminary/pretrial hearing was set March 10 for Steven J. Fisher, 56, Timberline Drive, Columbiana, charged with fifth-degree felony improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle and misdemeanors of weapons while intoxicated, OVI first offense, OVI breath first offense and a stop sign violation. Fisher allegedly possessed a loaded handgun in the center console while he was allegedly impaired when Columbiana police responded to a two-car accident in Columbiana on March 2.

Louis Huyghe II, 45, East Sixth Street, Salem, was fined $250 and sentenced to 180 days in jail, with 166 days suspended and credit for one day served, leaving a balance of 13 days still to serve in jail for domestic violence. He was ordered to complete 40 hours community service and to have no contact with the juvenile victim. Huyghe was accused of punching and a kicking a juvenile and grabbing him by the throat during an incident Jan. 5 in Salem.

Mark Walton, 59, Clark Avenue, Wellsville, was fined $500 and sentenced to 180 days in jail, with 150 days suspended and credit for eight days served, leaving a balance of 22 days still to serve for criminal trespass and two counts of violating a protection order. He was ordered to complete 30 hours community service and to have no contact with the victim. He was accused of sending a message via social media in Madison Township to a protected person on Feb. 18 in violation of a protection order. On Feb. 6, he entered her place of employment in the Glenmoor area and also on Feb. 16 sent her a message via social media. On Feb. 22, he was at the Town Inn in Wellsville after being trespassed from the property.

A pretrial was set April 21 for Daniel Sefcik, 40, North Lincoln Avenue, Salem, charged with domestic violence for allegedly punching a juvenile in the chest during an incident when he told police the juvenile punched him on March 3 in Salem.

A pretrial was set April 29 for Shawn Fullerton, 33, Cleveland Avenue, East Liverpool, charged with assault for allegedly pushing an employee of Rich Oil in Wellsville into the rack/tobacco area behind the cash register on Feb. 14, with the incident captured on video footage.

A pretrial was set March 13 for Darrien Greenlee, 31, North Main Street, Lisbon, charged with assault for allegedly trying to force her way out of a treatment room at Salem Regional Medical Center past multiple hospital personnel, lunging at a registered nurse with her hands and shoving her out of the way on March 2 in Salem. According to a police affidavit, the defendant’s hands made contact with the victim’s neck and the victim landed on top of a trash can and her back slammed into the wall of the defendant’s room. The victim reported the defendant threw a punch to the left side of her neck. An emergency admission had been placed on the defendant at the time, prohibiting her from leaving, so she was being blocked from leaving.

A pretrial was set March 10 for Jonathan Gardner, 33, Duke Vodrey Road, East Liverpool, charged with obstructing official business, leaving the scene, no valid license, reckless operation and endangering children. During a traffic stop on March 1 in East Liverpool, he couldn’t provide any personal information besides his name and police later identified him and learned he had two active warrants for his arrest from an incident in 2020 involving a vehicle/pedestrian accident which he allegedly fled from after allegedly hitting a pedestrian. A child was in the vehicle with him at the time and was left unattended when he fled.

A pretrial was set April 24 for Kassi Snay, 27, Malone Road, Salineville, charged with possession of drug abuse instrument, illegal use or possession of drug paraphernalia and escape for allegedly possessing an open box with visible needles and a glass pipe, along with scales, other drug use instruments and a baggie with white crystal substance at a property in Salem on Feb. 28. The escape charge stemmed from Dec. 12, 2024 when she was an inmate at the Columbiana County jail and illegally removed a GPS ankle bracelet when she was at the Salem Regional Medical Center, walking away from the facility on foot.

Amy Desimone, 54, Balley Avenue, East Liverpool, was fined $500 and sentenced to 60 days in jail, with credit for 14 served, leaving a balance of 46 days to serve in jail for obstructing justice, tampering with evidence, drug paraphernalia and two counts of theft, and for violating her probation for a 2024 case. On Feb. 17, Desimone allegedly stole 13 items totaling $245 at the Calcutta Walmart, using a personal bag to conceal the items, and gave St. Clair Township police officers false information about her name, social security number and date of birth. She also allegedly gave false information about another suspect and possessed a pipe used for smoking which she wrapped in a paper towel to conceal. Desimone also failed to scan and pay for 18 items totaling $178 at the Calcutta Walmart on Aug 2, 2024.

Madalyn Betteridge, 23, Edwards Street, East Liverpool, was fined $250 and sentenced to 30 days in jail, with 29 days suspended and credit for one day served, for disorderly conduct amended from obstructing official business. She was ordered to complete 40 hours community service. She was accused of interfering with an arrest by trying to pull officers away during an incident Sept. 21, 2024 in East Liverpool.

Brandon Leek, 40, Mattix Road, Lisbon, was fined $250 and sentenced to 30 days in jail, with 29 days suspended and credit for one day served, for disorderly conduct amended from assault. He was ordered to complete 20 hours community service and to have no contact with the victim. Leek was accused of grabbing a victim around the shoulders and neck area with his hands and began shaking and yelling at the victim on Jan 7, 2024 in Center Township.

A pretrial was set March 10 for Danny Shultz, 27, Cliff Drive, Salem, charged with obstructing official business for allegedly fleeing from the scene of a drug overdose on March 2 in Perry Township, leading officers on a foot pursuit.

A pretrial was set May 20 for Ashley Rhodes, 37, state Route 344, Leetonia, charged with possess instruments to ingest for allegedly possessing a zipper bag in her waistband containing suspected methamphetamine, numerous glass pipes with residue, along with baggies and digital scales when agents with the Columbiana County Drug Task Force executed a search warrant at her residence in Franklin Square on Feb. 28.

A pretrial was set May 20 for Mathew Bays, 37, East Perry Street, Salem, charged with possess instruments to ingest for allegedly possessing suspected methamphetamine, numerous glass pipes with residue, baggies and digital scales when agents with the Columbiana County Drug Task Force executed a search warrant at a residence in Franklin Square on Feb. 28.

A pretrial was set May 20 for John McCallister, 53, East Sixth Street, Salem, charged with illegal use or possession of drug paraphernalia for allegedly possessing a small baggy with an unknown white substance during a traffic stop on Jan. 26 in Salem.

A pretrial was set April 21 for Nathan Adams, 20, state Route 45, Lisbon, charged with underage OVI and a tail lights violation. Another OVI charge was dismissed.

A pretrial was set March 24 for Kameron Fennell, 25, Youngstown, charged with OVI first offense and driving under suspension.

A pretrial was set April 14 for Hope Mare Steed, 26, South Lundy Avenue, Salem, charged with OVI second offense, OVI breath second offense and speeding. She’s also facing a probation violation hearing on April 14 for another OVI case.

Carlene Russell, 67, East North Avenue, East Palestine, was fined $875 and sentenced to 180 days in jail, with 175 days suspended, credit for two days served in jail and three days served in a driver intervention program for physical control. She was ordered to complete 40 hours community service.

Marquail Watkins, 32, Girard, was fined $100 for an equipment violation amended from speeding.

Robert Bishop, 28, Lisbon Street, East Liverpool, was fined $300 for failure to stop after an accident and failure to control. He was ordered to make restitution of $3,400.

Nicholas Vedis, 23, Cameron, W.Va., was fined $300 for driving under suspension and speeding.

Jacob Richard Smith, 21, state Route 517, Lisbon, was fined $200 for driving under suspension.

Court News

LISBON — A man indicted in 2014 for allegedly breaking into a storage shed who alleged his right to a speedy trial was violated had his motion to dismiss overruled.

Curtis Townsend, 45, Springfield, formerly of East Liverpool, now has a status conference set for Thursday in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court before Judge Scott Washam.

Townsend was charged in September 2014 with breaking and entering, a fifth-degree felony, for allegedly trespassing in a storage shed on a Rainbow Lane, East Liverpool property on May 13, 2014.

He wasn’t served with the secret indictment until 10 years later on Oct. 9, 2024.

His defense attorney, Paul Conn, filed the motion to dismiss on Jan. 21, claiming his right to a speedy trial was violated because of the amount of time between when he was indicted and when he was served with the indictment.

The judge, however, disagreed, saying the delay in the case was not exclusively attributable to the state, noting efforts made to locate the defendant, who worked in the horse racing industry which took him to multiple locations in Ohio and the country.

The sheriff’s office deputies tried twice to serve Townsend at his East Liverpool residence and entered the warrant on the law enforcement data base. He had also failed to appear in East Liverpool Municipal Court previously.

He was taken into custody in Hamilton County.

Also in Common Pleas Court:

— Brandon Plum, 42, Huston Road, East Liverpool, pleaded guilty to third-degree felony domestic violence and two counts misdemeanor criminal damaging for throwing a woman down onto the bed, punching the wall several times damaging a door and throwing her cell phone on April 30, 2020 in St. Clair Township. Sentencing was set May 2.

— Richard Rice, 52, Ninth Avenue, East Liverpool, was sentenced to nine months in prison for fourth-degree felony receiving stolen property for being in possession of a stolen 2019 Toyota 4Runner on Jan. 9, 2024. He received credit for 18 days served in jail.

–April Badamo, 23, Anderson Boulevard, East Liverpool, was placed on a treatment plan for three years after pleading guilty to aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony. As part of the sentence, she must serve a term at the Eastern Ohio Correction Center until the program is successfully completed. Badamo possessed methamphetamine on Dec. 9, 2023.

— Indya Spann, 24, Commerce Street, Wellsville, was placed under community control for five years and ordered to serve a term at the Eastern Ohio Correction Center until the program is successfully completed for second-degree felony complicity in the commission of an offense and misdemeanor driving under suspension. A charge of fifth-degree felony complicity in the commission of an offense was dismissed. She was accused of being the driver for two others accused of breaking into a woman’s garage in East Liverpool and taking several items on Nov. 11, 2024. She received credit for 110 days already served in jail.