Municipal

LISBON — In Columbiana County Municipal Court, a pretrial was set March 30 for Caleb Austin Hoggard, 23, St. Clair Avenue, East Liverpool, charged with assault and aggravated menacing for allegedly punching another man in the face and brandishing a knife on Jan. 19 in East Liverpool.

A pretrial was set April 1 for Shawn Robert Watson, 25, Dogwood Circle, New Waterford, charged with aggravated menacing, endangering children, failure to stop after an accident and reasonable control. After an alleged physical dispute on March 13 in New Waterford, a woman said she was going to call the police and Watson said if she did, then stopped talking and made a slicing motion with his hand across his throat. At the time he had a 9mm pistol in his hand in a menacing fashion, an affidavit said.

A pretrial was set May 19 for Dominic S. Pagani, 52, East Fifth Street, Salem, charged with domestic violence for allegedly threatening to harm a woman by punching her in the face and making her believe he was going to cause physical harm on March 14 in Salem.

A pretrial was set April 1 for Romellow Marquice McKnight, 30, Youngstown, charged with aggravated menacing and two counts of violation of a protection order. McKnight was accused of threatening to physically harm a woman on Sept. 15, 2025 in East Liverpool and for messaging a protected person on Oct. 28, 2025. He also messaged a protected person on Feb. 17 in East Liverpool.

A pretrial was set May 26 for Morgan A. Cameron, 21, Westville Lake, Beloit, charged with assault for allegedly throwing a can of root beer at a man from a moving vehicle, striking him under the groin on March 2 in Hanover Township. He’s also facing a pretrial May 26 for speeding.

A pretrial was set May 27 for Harry William Clausen, 55, Ashtabula, charged with engaging in prostitution and possessing criminal tools for allegedly responding to an undercover ad on a known prostitution website and arranging for sexual activity with a woman in exchange for $140, then traveling to East Palestine on March 15 for the meeting with the phone used to make the arrangements in his possession.

A pretrial was set June 10 for David Alan Negrin, 41, Slippery Rock, Pa., charged with engaging in prostitution, possessing criminal tools and drug paraphernalia for allegedly responding to an undercover ad on a known prostitution website and arranging for sexual activity with a woman in exchange for money, then traveling to East Palestine on March 15 for the meeting with the phone used to make the arrangements in his possession, along with two white baggies with suspected cocaine and an unidentified substance and a spoon used in the commission of scooping out the narcotics.

A pretrial was set May 20 for Alexander Joseph Paz, 38, Morgantown, W.Va., charged with engaging in prostitution and possessing criminal tools for allegedly responding to an undercover ad on a known prostitution website and arranging for sexual activity with a woman in exchange for money, then traveling to East Palestine on March 15 for the meeting with the phone used to make the arrangements in his possession.

A pretrial was set June 2 for Jacob D. Simms, 35, Bell School Road, East Liverpool, charged with engaging in prostitution and possessing criminal tools for allegedly responding to an undercover ad on a known prostitution website and arranging for sexual activity with a woman in exchange for $80, then traveling to East Palestine on March 13 for the meeting with the phone used to make the arrangements in his possession.

Dalton Mitchelle Freeman, 23, North Shady Lane, East Liverpool, was fined $150 for disorderly conduct amended from domestic violence. He was accused of putting a woman in a bear hug and squeezing her while yelling at her and knocking a child off of a chair on Dec. 23, 2025 in East Liverpool.

Russell James Costello, 54, Smithfield, Pa. was fined $750 and 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 20 hours community service and a prostitution prevention course. Costello was accused of responding to an undercover ad on a known prostitution website and arranging for sexual activity with women in exchange for $150 and purchasing $50 worth of cocaine for them, then arriving in East Palestine on Feb. 21, 2025 for the meeting, with the phone used to make the arrangements in his possession.

Ryan Dickey, 38, Metz Road, New Waterford, was fined $700 and given a 90-day suspended jail term for menacing and obstructing official business. He was ordered to complete 20 hours community service. In Columbiana on Dec. 15, 2025, he threatened police officers while a passenger in a vehicle and exited the vehicle aggressively, disobeying orders from officers.

Taylor M. Merriman, 31, Newell, was fined $150 and given a suspended 30-day jail term for menacing amended from menacing by stalking. Merriman was ordered to complete 20 hours community service and to have no contact with the victim. On Oct. 6, 2025, Merriman told a woman she was going to kick her in the leg and make her fall in East Liverpool.

Tyler Scott Keys, 23, Francis Drive, Wellsville, was fined $150 and sentenced to 60 days in jail, with 55 days suspended, leaving five days to serve in jail for public indecency. He was ordered to complete 80 hours community service and to have no contact with the victim. Keys exposed his private parts and was satisfying himself while in a vehicle at the BP gas station in St. Clair Township on Sept. 17, 2025.

A pretrial was set May 12 for Robert L. Hays, 36, North Lincoln Avenue, Salem, charged with telecommunications harassment for allegedly calling the Salem police dispatch on March 13 regarding a custody dispute and yelling profanities. An affidavit said he called Salem police dispatch multiple times in the past using abusive language and yelling at dispatchers.

Kayla M. Grubb, 27, state Route 14, East Palestine, was fined $150 and sentenced to 30 days in jail, with 29 days suspended and credit for one day served, for disorderly conduct amended from domestic violence. She was ordered to complete 20 hours community service. She hit another woman and grabbed her by the hair during a domestic on Sept. 17, 2025 in Unity Township.

A pretrial was set May 26 for Christy S. Keglor, 51, Lake Milton, charged with theft, possessing criminal tools and criminal trespass for allegedly trespassing at the Calcutta Walmart on Dec. 4, 2014 and concealing items in her backpack, using a razor knife to cut through the plastic on boxes of cologne and leaving. She was fined $150 for no license and failure to control.

A pretrial was set June 2 for Mya Nicole Perry, 22, Youngstown, charged with possessing criminal tools. A charge of soliciting was dismissed due to failure to notarize the affidavit in the case. Perry had been accused of allegedly offering sex for hire and using her phone to make the arrangements on March 13 in East Palestine.

A probation violation hearing was set March 30 for Paul Mason Smith, 31, Beaver Falls, Pa., for a 2025 case of endangering children and obstructing official business and a 2024 traffic case.

Lucas Lee Gravley, 46, High Street, Washingtonville, was fined $350 for theft for stealing $228 worth of merchandise from the Salem Walmart on Sept. 8, 2025.

A pretrial was set June 1 for Christopher Henderson, 39, Grant Street, Lisbon, charged with obstructing official business for allegedly providing a deputy with a false name during a call for one to be removed on March 15 in Center Township, with the deputy learning Henderson had an active warrant out of Alabama for failure to register as a sex offender, an affidavit said.

A pretrial was set May 13 for Maria Greier, 33, Whitacre Road, Salem, charged with failure to file tax return for allegedly failing to file a state sales tax return from September 2005 through January 2026 for Mindful Aesthetics & Wellness LLC in Salem.

A pretrial was set June 1 for Seth P. Talbott, 31, Harding Avenue, East Liverpool, charged with obstructing official business, operating a vehicle impaired second offense, OVI refusal with prior offense in 20 years and traffic control devices. During a traffic stop on March 14 in East Liverpool, Talbott refused to exit the vehicle after being asked several times by a state trooper.

A pretrial was set April 20 for Scott A. Cooper, 41, West North Avenue, East Palestine, charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and two counts of driving under suspension. He allegedly possessed a small baggy with an off-white crystal-like substance during a traffic stop on March 16

A motions hearing was set April 22 for Christopher M. Wheeler, 51, Allison Street, East Liverpool, charged with operating a vehicle impaired first offense and a tail light violation.

Bruce M. Behner III, 45, West South Range Road, Salem, was fined $1,050 and sentenced to 180 days in jail, with 174 days suspended, leaving a balance of six days still to serve for OVI second offense and driving under suspension. His driver’s license was suspended for two years and he was ordered to complete 60 hours community service. Another OVI charge was dismissed.

A pretrial was set May 19 for Jessie Frank Hubbard, 44, Midland, Pa., charged with OVI second offense, OVI breath second offense, no license and open container.

A pretrial was set May 6 for Bruce A. Whittaker, 67, Newell, W.Va., charged with OVI first offense, OVI breath and traffic control devices.

A pretrial was set May 19 for Marcus A. Bowersock, 36, Echo Dell Road, East Liverpool, charged with physical control and driving under suspension.

A pretrial was set May 19 for Dustin Cody Carson, 26, Pittsburgh, Pa., charged with speeding.

A pretrial was set June 15 for Mark A. Dragoo, 50, Aliquippa, Pa., charged with speeding.

A pretrial was set May 27 for Jessica L. McCloskey, 32, Youngstown, charged with driving under suspension and speeding.

A pretrial was set May 6 for Jeffrey L. Zalick, 67, Macklin Road, New Waterford, charged with driving under suspension.

A pretrial was set May 20 for Charles Patrick McLaughlin, 29, Newell, W.Va., charged with two counts of driving under suspension.

Marcus Z. Reed, 23, Nittany Drive, Summitville, was fined $200 for open container, unauthorized plate and driving under suspension. Charges of loud exhaust, reckless operation and unsafe vehicle were dismissed.

Nathan C. Evan, 26, Youngstown, was fined $150 and received credit for one day served in jail for lighted lights amended from street racing.

Charles Nicholas Gough, 27, Echo Dell Road, East Liverpool, was fined $150 for no license and expired tag.

Robert N. Monske, 86, South Lincoln Avenue, Salem, was fined $200 for a stopped school bus violation.

Andrei Daniel Cimponeriu, 25, Saybrook Boulevard, Columbiana, was fined $150 for lighted lights amended from street racing.

Charlene McLaughlin, 29, Newell, W.Va., was fined $50 for speeding.

John Roger Datson, 39, state Route 7, Rogers, was fined $300 for two counts of driving under suspension.

Court News

LISBON –A man facing multiple felony counts for a 2025 incidents involving a Jeep and a high speed chase in June and an assault in April was sentenced to a total of five years in prison.

James D. Laughlin, 34, state Route 518, Lisbon, appeared for sentencing recently in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court.

He was sentenced to at least three years to four and a half years in prison for felonious assault, a second-degree felony and an additional 18 months for failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer, a third-degree felony. He was sentenced to 180 days in the county jail for endangering children, a misdemeanor, but the term was ordered served at the same time as the other two charges. He received credit for 246 days in jail. Charges of felonious assault, two counts vehicular assault an domestic violence were dismissed.

He received an additional six months in prison for a separate assault charge, a fifth-degree felony, bringing the total prison time to six months.

The incidents began when Laughlin allegedly became aggressive with a woman at the Rogers Food and Fuel, Depot Street, Rogers, on June 29, 2025 so she ran to a friend who was driving a Jeep with other people inside. Laughlin then jumped in the van they were driving, with the woman’s unrestrained 2-year-old child inside, and intentionally rammed the Jeep with the van, then fled the area with the child still inside. Laughlin allegedly fled at a high rate of speed when an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper initiated a traffic stop in Madison Township, then Laughlin drove into a yard, left the vehicle and fled on foot into a wooded lot. The other incident occurred April 23, 2025 when he caused harm to a person.

Also in Common Pleas Court:

— Douglas C. Toothman, 48, East Fourth Street, East Liverpool, pleaded guilty to fourth-degree felony domestic violence, with sentencing set for April 27. He was accused of hitting a woman in her face and head area several times in East Liverpool on Oct. 18, 2025. The affidavit said the victim was pregnant.

— Nicholas L. Weyand, 37, Dewey Avenue, East Liverpool, pleaded guilty to illegal conveyance of drugs of abuse onto the grounds of a specified governmental facility, a third-degree felony, and possession of a fentanyl-related compound, a fifth-degree felony, with sentencing set for May 18. Weyand was accused of possessing fentanyl and trying to take drugs into a detention facility on May 27, 2024.

— Megan N. Stofen, 31, Bloomfield Avenue, East Liverpool, pleaded guilty to aggravated possession of drugs, a third-degree felony lesser-included offense from the original second-degree felony, and was sentenced to serve a term at the Eastern Ohio Correction Center until the program is successfully completed and then placed in drug court for a period not to exceed five years. She was given a mandatory fine of $5,000. She received credit for four days served in jail. A charge of aggravated trafficking in drugs, a second-degree felony, was dismissed. She possessed methamphetamine on July 26, 2024.

Common Pleas

New Cases

Jamie Mash, Lisbon Road, Salem, vs. Bobby Allen Bernstein Jr., Idaho Avenue, Salem, et al.; damages sought for personal injury/negligence claim from 2024 traffic crash.

Docket Entries

County Treasurer vs. James Laut, et al.; payment plan entered, case stayed.

County Treasurer vs. William Joseph Lara; forfeiture order vacated, case stayed pending completion of payment plan.

Rocket Mortgage LLC vs. James D. Williams, et al.; case stayed.

Huntington National Bank vs. Francis Cerech; $85,804 judgment granted to plaintiff.

County Treasurer vs. Bruce A. Maher, et al.; delinquent property taxes paid, case dismissed.

Pennymac Loan Services LLC vs. Donnie Michael Mergenthaler, et al.; mortgage foreclosure ordered for Maryland Avenue, Salem property.

Lake Tomahawk Property Owners Association Inc. vs. Scott Ramsey, et al.; First Energy Corp dismissed as defendant.

Capital One, N.A. vs. Anthony J. Rhodes; $3,546 judgment to plaintiff.

County Treasurer vs. Sean L. Rhodes, et al.; payment plan entered, case stayed, taxes for one parcel paid, with that parcel dismissed from complaint.

Marriage Licenses

Nicholas B. Miller, 25, Sarahsville, software engineer, and Katelyn N. Chilton, 26, Salem, teacher.

Spencer Biser, 35, Leetonia, packer, and Terri Lynn Earich, 31, Leetonia, unemployed.

Gary A. Schmidt, 67, Columbiana, auto worker, and Martha I. Lamphear, 54, Columbiana, cashier (PSA).

Tony L. Hilton, 45, East Liverpool, unemployed, and Shannon D. Thrasher, 39, East Liverpool, shipper.

Hugo Lopez Herrara, 44, Salem, manager, and Ma Guadalupe Gonzalez Siordia, 42, Salem, housewife.

Jeffrey T. G. Sayer, 31, New Waterford, teledata, and Aysia L. Canterbury, 29, New Waterford, unemployed.