Common Pleas

New Cases

Timothy Potts Jr., Louise Street, East Liverpool, and Brandy Potts, Maple Hill Road, Salineville; dissolution sought.

Cassidie Edwards, St. Clair Avenue, East Liverpool, and Joseph Edwards, Steubenville; dissolution sought.

Elks One Inc., doing business as Sleepy Hollow Golf Club, Homeworth Road, Alliance, and TJ Land Management One LLC, Homeworth Road, Alliance, vs. Merchants Preferred Insurance Company, Dublin, et al.; damages sought for 2023 hail storm/wind storm claim.

Docket Entries

U.S. Bank Trust National Association vs. Melissa Murphy, et al.; summary judgment granted to plaintiff.

County Treasurer vs. Karen Ackerman, et al.; payment plan entered, case stayed.

County Treasurer vs. John Siedentopf, et al.; payment plan entered, case stayed.

County Treasurer vs. Derek Cooper, et al.; delinquent property taxes paid, case dismissed.

Court News

LISBON — A Sebring man accused of trespassing in a Salem apartment last year and threatening the resident with a handgun was sentenced to an indefinite term of two to three years in prison.

Jarred Chestnut, 33, West California Avenue, appeared recently for sentencing in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court for burglary, a second-degree felony lesser offense from the original charge of first-degree felony aggravated burglary. A charge of aggravated menacing will be dismissed.

Chestnut received credit for 22 days already served in jail.

He was accused of trespassing in a Continental Drive, Salem apartment, threatening the resident with a handgun, grabbing him by the neck and chest and threatening to put him in a trunk and make him disappear on June 20, 2024, a police affidavit said.

Also in Common Pleas Court:

— Kara Carter, 42, Lincoln Avenue, Wellsville, was ordered evaluated by the Forensic Psychiatric Center of Northeast Ohio for competency and sanity, with a status hearing set for May 22. She had been scheduled to face trial this month, but her defense attorney requested the evaluation, which the judge ordered. Charges against Carter include fourth-degree felony strangulation, third-degree felony domestic violence and misdemeanors of aggravated menacing and unlawful restraint for allegedly pulling another woman’s hair and choking her during a domestic incident that became physical on Oct. 1, 2024 in East Liverpool, along with holding the woman captive in a bedroom from Sept. 26, 2024 to Oct. 1, 2024 in East Liverpool.

— Storm McDonald, 21, Akron, pleaded guilty to fourth-degree felony trespass in a habitation when a person is present or likely to be present, with sentencing set for May 9. McDonald was accused of trespassing in a Wellsville home on July 28, 2024.

— Jessica Hart, 48, Leake Street, East Palestine, was placed under community control for three years after pleading guilty to four counts of aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, for possessing the drugs lisdexamfetamine, oxycodone, hydrocodone and methamphetamine on July 31, 2023.

— Rachel Mazza, 35, West Fourth Street, East Liverpool, was placed under community control for three years after pleading guilty to possession of fentanyl-related compound, a fourth-degree felony, and possession of cocaine, a fifth-degree felony. She received credit for 32 days already served in jail. Mazza possessed cocaine and an amount of fentanyl equal or greater than 1 gram but less than 5 grams on Feb. 15, 2023.

— Marcus Reed, 22, Nittany Drive, Summitville, was placed on a treatment plan for three years after pleading guilty to aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, for possessing methamphetamine on Feb. 5, 2024.

Grand Jury

LISBON — Columbiana County deputies on Tuesday rounded up several defendants wanted on secret indictments, including Khbair Tisdale, who’s facing a dozen drug charges for both trafficking and possession, along with money forfeitures, from a September drug raid in East Liverpool.

Tisdale, 44, Minerva Street, East Liverpool, was charged with second-degree felonies of aggravated trafficking in drugs, aggravated possession of drugs, trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound and possession of fentanyl-related compound, fourth-degree felonies of trafficking in cocaine and possession of cocaine and fifth-degree felonies of trafficking in heroin, possession of heroin, and two counts each of trafficking in drugs and possession of drugs, along with specifications for forfeiture of money from a drug case.

The charges all allegedly stem from the execution of a search warrant at a Minerva Street, East Liverpool residence by the Columbiana County Drug Task Force and East Liverpool police on September 12, 2024.

According to the indictment, Tisdale allegedly prepared for sale and possessed methamphetamine in an amount equal or greater than five times bulk but less than 50 times bulk, fentanyl in an amount equal or greater than 10 grams but less than 20 grams, cocaine in an amount equal or greater than 5 grams but less than 10 grams, less than 1 gram of heroin, and buprenorphine and xylazine. The amount of money for the forfeiture specification totaled $637.

Other secret indictments served included:

— Jakob Hendricks, 35, Cherry Street, Washingtonville, fifth-degree felony theft and fourth-degree felony telecommunications fraud for allegedly stealing $6,045 from Natural Solutions on Oct. 31, 2023.

— Donna Aber, 31 Maine Boulevard, East Liverpool, two counts of complicity in the commission of an offense, one a third-degree felony and one a fifth-degree felony, and misdemeanor possession of drugs for allegedly participating in a scheme to obtain illegal narcotics and sneak them into the Columbiana County jail, with two other defendants involved in the scheme to get the narcotics into the jail on Sept. 13, 2024. She also possessed buprenorphine.

— Jamie Miller, 49, Pancake Clarkson Road, Rogers, fifth-degree felony theft for allegedly stealing $1,899 in U.S. currency from Dollar General on Jan. 3, 2025.

— Karl Boyd, 42, Calcutta Smith Ferry Road, East Liverpool, fifth-degree felony theft for allegedly stealing miscellaneous merchandise from Walmart on August 20, 2024.

— Shelly Swigert, 51, Ashton Road, East Liverpool, possession of cocaine and possession of fentanyl-related compound, both fifth-degree felonies, for allegedly possessing cocaine and fentanyl on Aug. 26, 2023.

— Charles Bosel Jr., 35, state Route 45, Lisbon, aggravated possession of drugs, a third-degree felony, for allegedly possessing methamphetamine in an amount equal or greater than bulk but less than five times bulk on Sept. 2, 2024.

— Nevada Lamm, 22, Harvey Avenue, East Liverpool, possession of cocaine, a fifth-degree felony, for allegedly possessing cocaine on Aug. 25, 2024.

— Kayla Rae Duffield, 36, Blackmore Street, East Liverpool, aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, for allegedly possessing amphetamine on Nov. 10, 2024.

— Tammy Sue Merriman, 53, Martha Street, East Liverpool, aggravated possession of drugs, a third-degree felony, for allegedly possessing methamphetamine in an amount equal or greater than bulk but less than five times bulk on Jan. 16, 2024.

— Margaret Riley, 61, Fenton Street, East Liverpool, possession of cocaine, a fifth-degree felony, for allegedly possessing cocaine on Dec. 1, 2024.