Common Pleas

New Cases

Aaron Coen, Newell, W.Va., vs. East Liverpool City Hospital, West Fifth Street, East Liverpool, et al.; damages sought for alleged negligence claim for 2024 treatment and surgery.

Tiffany Ferreira, Westview Avenue, Salem, vs. Giovani Ferreira, Newark, N.J.; divorce sought.

Docket Entries

Marie Keller and Kenneth Keller; dissolution granted.

Michael Kulick and Carolann Kulick; dissolution granted.

Court News

LISBON — A man scheduled to face sentencing next month for cases involving multiple drug counts and failure to comply from early 2024 entered a guilty plea Wednesday to another multiple-count drug case, with sentencing set for Sept. 15, the same day as the first case.

Joseph DeSarro, 31, last known address Cannons Mill Road, East Liverpool, agreed to a deal which will include dismissal of two drug trafficking charges, one a first-degree felony and one a second-degree felony. He appeared before Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Washam.

DeSarro was accompanied by his defense attorney, Robert Bricker, and was in the custody of a deputy sheriff. Columbiana County Assistant Prosecutor Alec Beech said he’ll be recommending a total sentence of three years in prison and ask that the term be served consecutive to the two other pending cases.

DeSarro pleaded guilty to third-degree felonies of illegal conveyance of prohibited items onto grounds of a detention facility or of an institution and tampering with evidence, first-degree felony possession of cocaine, second-degree felony possession of a fentanyl-related compound, and fifth-degree felonies of two counts aggravated possession of drugs and two counts possession of drugs.

During a traffic stop when he was a passenger in East Liverpool on Dec. 31, 2024, he was accused of tampering with a plastic bag and shoving it down his pants after being placed in a patrol car. While in the dressing room at the Columbiana County jail, he was found to be in possession of multiple illegal narcotics and allegedly admitted to the illegal narcotics being crack, cocaine and fentanyl.

According to the indictment, he possessed cocaine in an amount equal or greater than 27 grams but less than 100 grams and fentanyl in an amount equal or greater than 10 grams but less than 20 grams. He also possessed amphetamine, oxycodone, buprenorphine and alprazolam.

A defense motion for suppression of evidence was withdrawn.

Also in Common Pleas Court:

— Joseph Altenburg, 38, state Route 165, East Palestine, was ordered to prison for 18 months after being found in violation of the terms of his probation for domestic violence, a third-degree felony. His probation was dishonorably terminated. He received credit for 183 days served in jail. Altenburg caused harm to a woman on July 9, 2023.

— Douglas Barnes, 44, Ravine Street, East Liverpool, was sentenced to six months in prison after pleading guilty to fifth-degree felony aggravated possession of drugs and misdemeanor possession of drugs for possessing methamphetamine and buprenorphine on Aug. 4, 2024. The prison term was ordered served consecutive to the 42-month prison sentence he’s already been serving since September 2024 for third-degree felony aggravated possession of drugs, misdemeanor illegal use or possession of drug paraphernalia and a lesser offense of third-degree felony aggravated possession of drugs (previously a second-degree felony) from a separate indictment. Those charges stemmed from Barnes possessing methamphetamine in an amount equal or greater than bulk but less than five times bulk on Sept. 9, 2022 and again on Sept. 22, 2022, along with possessing drug paraphernalia.

— Rachel Hess, 31, Weirton, W.Va., was sentenced to six months in prison, with credit for at least 135 days served, for violating the terms of her intervention plan for two counts of aggravated possession of drugs, both fifth-degree felonies. Her intervention plan was dishonorably terminated. She possessed methamphetamine on July 26, 2023 and on Oct. 24, 2024.

— Mackenzie Myers, 48, 12th Street, Minerva, was sentenced to a term at the Eastern Ohio Correction Center in Lisbon until the program is complete after being found in violation of the terms of her treatment plan for attempted aggravated possession of drugs, a fourth-degree felony. Her intervention in lieu of conviction was dishonorably terminated. She was originally indicted for aggravated possession of drugs for possessing methamphetamine on April 22, 2023.

— Randy T. Farmer-Reese, 36, Youngstown, was placed under community control for three years after pleading guilty to a lesser-included offense of misdemeanor engaging in prostitution and fifth-degree felony possessing criminal tools. He was originally charged with a fourth-degree felony promoting prostitution charge. He received credit for two days served in jail. He was accused of driving a woman to a sex for hire meeting in East Palestine on Nov. 23, with at least one of the phone numbers the woman used to communicate with an undercover agent coming from Reese’s phone.

— Jackie Barker, 30, Saline Street, Irondale, was placed on a treatment plan for 12 months after pleading guilty to aggravating possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, for possessing amphetamine on April 18, 2023.

— Zachary Hutchison, 40, listed as homeless, pleaded guilty to charges from two separate indictments, including fourth-degree felony possession of deadly weapon while under detention, third-degree felony harassment with a bodily substance, fourth-degree felony assault, and misdemeanor expose others to contagion. He was sentenced to 249 days in jail, with credit for 249 days already served, leaving zero days to serve. Hutchison was accused of refusing to comply with Salem police officers initiating a traffic stop on his vehicle on Nov. 29, 2024, fighting with officers after being physically removed from the vehicle, kicking at officers and biting an officer on the finger causing injuries. He allegedly told officers and medical staff that he had Hepatitis C while being treated at the Salem Regional Medical Center emergency room, with the contagion charge related to that. The weapons charge stemmed from him possessing a homemade weapon while he was under detention in the Columbiana County jail on June 7 this year.