Common Pleas

New Cases

JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Dublin, vs. Anita Beatty, Elysian Way, East Liverpool; collection sought of alleged $37,458 debt.

Docket Entries

Premier Bank vs. Brandy Humphrey, et al.; judgment vacated, case dismissed.

Seven Seventeen Credit Union, Inc. vs. Andrea Bable; case stayed due to bankruptcy filing.

Tanner Bean vs. Keelie Bean; divorce granted.

County Treasurer vs. Ronald Miller, et al.; delinquent property taxes paid, case dismissed.

County Treasurer vs. Melissa Dyke; payment plan entered, case stayed.

Municipal

LISBON — In Columbiana County Municipal Court, Nicholas Kringeta, 63, Clinton, was fined $1,000 and sentenced to 180 days in jail, with 179 days suspended and credit for one day served, for two counts of possessing criminal tools, with one amended from engaging in prostitution. He was ordered to complete 40 hours community service and an online 12-hour prostitution prevention course. Kringeta requested sexual conduct for an agreed upon price of $180 from an undercover agent with the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force, traveling to Salem on Dec. 9, 2024 for the meeting with the phone used to make the arrangements in his possession.

Jeffrey A. Scafaro, 62, Cuyahoga Falls, was fined $1,000 and sentenced to given a suspended 180-day jail term for two counts of possessing criminal tools, with one amended from engaging in prostitution. He was ordered to complete 40 hours community service and an online 12-hour prostitution prevention course. Scafaro requested sexual conduct for an agreed upon price of $200 from an undercover agent with the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force, traveling to Salem on Feb. 19 for the meeting with the phone used to make the arrangements in his possession.

Caleb Walker, 24, Cannons Mill Road, East Liverpool, was fined $500 and given a suspended 180-day jail term for assault. He was ordered to complete 40 hours community service and to have no contact with the victim. He was accused of her holding a woman down and threatening her with a fork, then shoving her down the steps, causing her to hit her face on the ground when she fell during an argument on May 18, 2024 in East Liverpool.

Dylan Everett Michael Bredeck, 23, Denver Street, East Liverpool, was fined $900 and sentenced to 90 days in jail, with credit for 33 days served, leaving a balance of 57 days still to serve for domestic violence, resisting arrest, driving under suspension, improper handling a firearm in a motor vehicle, failure to comply, two counts of unauthorized plate and two counts of drug paraphernalia. A charge of obstructing official business was dismissed. During a traffic stop on Sept. 14, 2024 in East Liverpool, Bredeck possessed a handgun concealed in his waistband and a glass tube with burnt white residue along with an empty handgun magazine with loose 9mm rounds. On Sept. 22, 2024 in East Liverpool, he was accused of hitting a woman with a child’s bicycle, picking her up from the couch, ripping hair out of her head and slamming her to the wood floor. On Oct. 10, 2024, he fled on foot from a traffic stop in St. Clair Township and was found hiding near a fence in a back yard. He was tased after failing to comply to orders to go to the ground. He possessed a burnt pipe with residue. On Oct. 22, 2024, he fled from police in East Liverpool while riding an ATV.

James P. Montgomery, 76, Darlington, Pa., was fined $250 and given a suspended 30-day jail term for disorderly conduct amended from sexual imposition. He was ordered to complete a sex offender treatment program. The incident occurred on Oct. 28, 2023 in a vehicle traveling in Hanover Township with a female victim.

A pretrial was set April 24 for Joshua Watkins, 36, Eighth Avenue, East Liverpool, charged with criminal mischief for allegedly entering a woman’s vehicle and trunk without permission on April 14 in East Liverpool. A court trial was also set April 24 for an intoxication charge for public intoxication on April 14 in East Liverpool.

A pretrial was set June 24 for Taylor Wolfe, 29, West Fifth Street, East Liverpool, charged with theft for allegedly failing to scan and pay for 37 items totaling $240 from the Calcutta Walmart on April 8.

A pretrial was set June 5 for Kaleb Farnsworth, 30, Cartwright Street, East Liverpool, charged with possession of drug abuse instrument and disorderly conduct for allegedly punching through the taped window of a vehicle after he was fighting with a woman to get belongings out and possessed hypodermic needles with residue on April 9 in St. Clair Township.

A pretrial was set April 28 for Thomas Hackney, 44, Maple Avenue, Wellsville, charged with violating a protection order for allegedly violating a protection order through third party contact with the protected person on March 12 in Madison Township.

A pretrial was set July 7 for Chelsea Baker, 34, McIntosh Road, Wellsville, charged with theft for allegedly concealing multiple items in Walmart bags and switching tags from other merchandise, failing to scan the concealed items while also scanning items with the switched tags. There were 17 items totaling $285 at the Calcutta Walmart on April 2.

Harold Dunlap, 67, West School Street, East Rochester, was fined $100 for disorderly conduct amended from receiving stolen property for possessing four DVDs stolen from another man’s residence in East Rochester on July 16, 2024.

Nathan Elkins, 36, Wilbert Avenue, East Liverpool, was fined $450 and given a suspended 90-day jail term for theft and two counts of drug paraphernalia. He failed to scan and pay for 10 items totaling $169 at the Calcutta Walmart on Jan 20 this year. On April 2 this year, he possessed three burnt glass pipes in his vehicle during a traffic stop in East Liverpool. On Aug. 25, 2024 in East Liverpool, Elkins possessed a burnt glass pipe and crystal-like substance.

Samuel Ardeno, 39, Cedar Street, Salem, was fined $530 and sentenced to 180 days in jail, with 177 days suspended and credit for one day served, leaving a balance of two days still to serve for operating a vehicle impaired and lane violations. Another OVI charge was dismissed.

Jace Conway, 19, Leetonia Road, Leetonia, was fined $150 for improper backing, with a charge of leaving the scene dismissed.

Brandi Heath, 47, Peterson Road, Wellsville, was fined $130 for driving under suspension and expired registration.

A pretrial was set June 17 for John J. Miller, 73, East Park Avenue, Columbiana, charged with OVI first offense, OVI breath first offense and a turn signal violation.

A pretrial was set June 23 for Sylena Henderson, 34, Youngstown, charge with OVI first offense, OVI breath first offense and assured clear distance.

A pretrial was set June 23 for Connor Conaway, 19, West North Avenue, East Palestine, charged with speeding.

A pretrial was set June 24 for Harry Wrightsman, 72, Sixth Street, Wellsville, charged with driving under suspension.

A pretrial was set July 1 for Alexander Kelly, 18, Lisbon Road, Salem, charged with speeding.

A pretrial was set July 7 for Kyle Melott, 30, Fredricktown-Clarkson Road, Negley, charged with non-compliance/driving under suspension.

Court News

LISBON — A Pennsylvania man accused of possessing multiple images of child pornography when he arrived for a sex-for-hire meeting in East Palestine last year was ordered to prison for 13 and a half years.

Wesley D. Theberge, 30, Allison Park, appeared for sentencing recently in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court. Earlier this year, he entered guilty pleas to engaging in prostitution and possessing criminal tools, both misdemeanors, and 35 counts of fourth-degree felony pandering obscenity involving a minor or impaired person. Another 17 counts of fourth-degree felony pandering obscenity were dismissed.

Theberge was designated a Tier II sex offender requiring him to register his address with the sheriffs’s office of the county where he resides once he’s released from prison. He received credit for 10 days served in jail.

Theberge was accused of possessing a large quantity of images depicting minors in a state of nudity on a USB flash drive on March 29, 2024 in East Palestine when he arrived for a sex for hire meeting after making the arrangements with an undercover agent.

Also in Common Pleas Court:

— A defense motion for a new trial in the case against Shanika Simmons, 41, Youngstown, has been denied, with a status hearing set for Thursday. She had been scheduled for sentencing Oct. 3, 2024, but then the motion for a new trial was filed. A jury found her guilty on July 29, 2024 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.

— Seth Mora, 31, Grant Street, Rogers, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor domestic violence and aggravated assault, a fourth-degree felony lesser-included offense of the original charge of second-degree felony felonious assault, with sentencing set for June 16. He was accused of choking a woman during a domestic on Jan. 27, 2024 in East Liverpool.

— Lonnie D. Cunningham, 32, Lincoln Avenue, East Liverpool, was ordered evaluated by the Forensic Psychiatric Center of Northeast Ohio for competency to stand trial and to plead not guilty by reason of insanity for charges of fourth-degree felony receiving stolen property and misdemeanors of obstructing official business, disorderly conduct and operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse or a combination of them-OVI. A trial set for April 23 in the case was cancelled. Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers investigating a traffic crash involving a stolen vehicle on Dec. 7, 2024 in Yellow Creek Township learned that Cunningham was the alleged driver and brought him back to the scene, but he refused to identify himself. The vehicle he was driving, a 2016 Ford Escape, had been reported stolen. Cunningham was also ordered evaluated in a separate case for third-degree felony burglary for allegedly trespassing in an occupied structure to commit theft on Nov. 22, 2024. The trial set in that case was continued and a status hearing was set for June 5.

— Ikeima Abercrombie, 37, Wilbert Avenue, East Liverpool, pleaded guilty to charges from two separate cases, including fifth-degree felonies of nonsupport of dependents, aggravated possession of drugs and possession of a fentanyl-related compound, with sentencing set for June 20. Abercrombie was accused of failing to pay child support for a child from Sept. 25, 2022 to Sept. 22, 2024, possessing heroin on Dec. 20, 2024 and possessing fentanyl on Sept. 23, 2021.

— William Dale Jacquet, 31, Canton, pleaded guilty to charges in two separate indictments, including second-degree felony burglary, third-degree felony tampering with evidence and misdemeanor illegal use or possession of drug paraphernalia, with sentencing set for May 22. A fifth-degree felony theft charge will likely be dismissed. Jacquet was accused of breaking into a woman’s garage in East Liverpool on Nov. 11, 2024 and for possessing a glass smoking pipe with white residue during a traffic stop on Nov. 11, 2024 in Liverpool Township after the pipe fell from his pant leg.

— Alayah Thornton, 25, Commerce Street, Wellsville, pleaded guilty to fourth-degree felony assault and misdemeanor illegal use or possession of drug paraphernalia, with sentencing set for April 28. She was accused of kicking an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper after being placed under arrest during a traffic stop on Dec. 20, 2024 in Fairfield Township. She also possessed a broken glass smoking pipe with burnt white residue during the initial traffic stop.