Common Pleas

New Cases

County Treasurer, Lisbon, vs. Daniel A. Smith, Coffee School Road, Salem, et al.; delinquent property tax foreclosure sought for Coffee School Road, Salem property.

County Treasurer, Lisbon, vs. Alexis Trust, Campbell Road, Hanoverton; delinquent property tax foreclosure sought for Boyce Avenue, Wellsville property.

Cheryl A. Heitzenrater, North Lincoln Avenue, Salem, and Troy L. Heitzenrater, North Lincoln Avenue, Salem; dissolution sought.

NewRez LLC, Greenville, S.C., vs. Troy Richard Oyer, Rochester Road, Minerva, et al.; mortgage foreclosure sought for Rochester Road, Minerva property.

Velocity Investments, LLC, Wall, N.J., vs. Brittany Logan, Lynchburg, Kensington; collection sought of alleged $40,728 debt.

Docket Entries

Mincie M Hull vs. Brent A. Hull; divorce granted.

Robert Atherton vs. Angela Toot, et al.; case settled and dismissed.

LVNV Funding LLC vs. Jessi Lynch; $17,265 judgment granted to plaintiff.

Huntington National Bank vs. Zachary Hicks, et al.; mortgage foreclosure sought for North Jefferson Street, Lisbon property.

County Treasurer vs. Christopher S. Gay, et al.; delinquent property tax foreclosure ordered for Columbia Street, Salem property.

County Treasurer vs. Earl A. Schory II; delinquent property tax foreclosure ordered for Summit Street, Salem property.

Grand Jury

LISBON — A West Virginia man accused of assaulting a woman, holding a knife to her throat, abducting her and stealing her vehicle in February is facing four felony counts, including first-degree felony aggravated robbery.

Jessy Paul Lee, 35, Chester, was one of 11 defendants openly indicted by the Columbiana County Grand Jury on Wednesday. Besides the aggravated robbery charge, other charges against him include felonious assault, a second-degree felony, third-degree felony abduction and fourth-degree felony grand theft of a motor vehicle.

The grand jury also issued 26 secret indictments after meeting for two days. Secret indictments aren’t released until a defendant is served with the paperwork.

According to a police affidavit, Lee allegedly punched the woman in the face multiple times then held a knife to her throat while they were traveling in a vehicle in East Liverpool on Feb. 17. The affidavit said the victim was able to pull the vehicle over on West Fifth Street where she fled from the vehicle screaming for help.

Prior to that, Lee had shown up at her residence and asked for a ride, and once in the vehicle told her to drive where he tells her to and not to do anything stupid, the affidavit said. She claimed she needed gas and stopped at Sheetz in Calcutta and video surveillance showed him trying to stop her from going inside, then following her to the women’s bathroom, forcing her out a side door and walking her back to the vehicle, threatening her if she didn’t comply. After the assault when she fled, he drove off with her vehicle, a 2020 GMC.

He remains held in jail, with his bond of $50,000 cash or surety continued.

Other open indictments include:

–John J. Sisson, 43, Racine, first-degree felony rape, third-degree felony strangulation, and misdemeanor domestic violence for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman by force or threat of force and strangling her during a domestic in Hanover Township on Aug. 10, 2025 when he pulled her from a truck and assaulted her, forcing her to the back seat where he assaulted her again and then grabbed her and dragged her near a shed and assaulted her again.

— Darrien J. Greenlee, 32, North Market Street, Lisbon, misdemeanors of obstructing official business and disorderly conduct for allegedly spitting at police officers multiple times during an encounter and continuing to spit after being warned on Feb. 26 in Lisbon. She was yelling and cursing at others and told she would be cited and escalated the behavior in front of officers and refused to give her identification. Her case was ordered transferred back to county Municipal Court since the indictment included no felonies.

— Johnathon R. Easterday, 35, Aten Avenue, Wellsville, third-degree felony domestic violence for allegedly pushing a woman in the chest, which caused her to fall into a glass box in Wellsville on Jan, 29, with three or more domestic violence convictions on his record.

— David Q. Rhodes, 54, Creek Road, New Waterford, fourth-degree felony strangulation and misdemeanor domestic violence for allegedly grabbing a woman by the neck, causing her to have a hard time breathing, and throwing her to the ground during a domestic on Feb. 25 in Unity Township.

— Devon G.N. Lockhart, 23, West Ninth Street, East Liverpool, fourth-degree felony receiving stolen property for allegedly possessing a stolen firearm out of Akron during a traffic stop on March 3 in East Liverpool while he was a passenger. The stolen firearm was found under his seat and he allegedly took ownership of the stolen firearm.

— David Alan Michael Talbott, 35, Henry Avenue, East Liverpool, fourth-degree felony receiving stolen property and misdemeanors of theft and possession of drug abuse instrument for allegedly having a woman’s stolen vehicle, which was found in the Calcutta Walmart parking lot, and being caught coming out of the store on March 4 with a box of security cameras concealed in his pants valued at $99 that he allegedly stole from the store, having a hypodermic needle in his pocket.

— Preston Lamar English, 33, Densmore Avenue, East Liverpool, third-degree felony having weapons while under disability, fifth-degree felony possession of cocaine and two counts misdemeanor possession of drugs for allegedly having a loaded 9mm handgun in the bedroom closet where he was hiding under some clothes on Jan. 8 when police were searching for him due to active warrants. He also allegedly possessed cocaine. He was prohibited from having a weapon due to a previous felony drug conviction.

— Grant Chidester, 32, Pittsburgh, Pa., third-degree felony compelling prostitution, fifth-degree felony possessing criminal tools and misdemeanor engaging in prostitution for allegedly responding to an undercover ad on a known prostitution website of an adult woman and a minor girl and arranging for sexual activity with both, including the minor, for $160, then traveling to East Palestine on Dec. 12 for the meeting with the phone used to make the arrangements in his possession.

— Michael David Bruce, 29, Glenn Street, East Liverpool, two counts fourth-degree felony operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse or a combination of them-OVI and misdemeanor failure to reinstate a license for allegedly driving while impaired on Jan. 4 in East Liverpool, with at least three prior convictions for OVI, including two in 2024 and one in 2017.

Court News

LISBON — An East Liverpool man indicted in two separate cases for multiple drug counts entered guilty pleas recently to numerous charges, including a first-degree felony fentanyl possession charge, trafficking charges and obstructing official business.

Marques Marquell Kimmie, 30, East Eighth Street, will face sentencing May 7 in Columbiana County Municipal Court.

He pleaded guilty to first-degree felony possession of a fentanyl-related compound, fourth-degree felonies of trafficking in cocaine, possession of cocaine, third-degree felony possession of a fentanyl-related compound and fifth-degree felonies of obstructing official business, trafficking in drugs and aggravated possession of drugs, with specifications for forfeiture of money from a drug case.

Charges being dismissed as part of the plea deal include assault, two counts trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound and drug paraphernalia.

Kimmie was accused of attempting to run back inside an East Liverpool residence while the Columbiana County Drug Task Force was executing a search warrant and slamming the door shut on a police officer’s wrist, using his body weight to hold the door shut on June 27, 2025. Kimmie also possessed several used digital drug scales with white residue and packaging material near the scales, along with preparing for sale and possessing fentanyl in an amount equal or greater than100 unit doses but less than 200 unit doses and possessing $550, buprenorphine and hydrocodone.

The other indictment said that Kimmie possessed $323, trafficked and possessed fentanyl in an amount equal or greater than 50 grams but less than 100 grams and trafficked and possessed cocaine in an amount equal or greater than 5 grams but less than 10 grams on July 21, 2025.

Also in Common Pleas Court:

— Nicholas Todd Evans, 27, Cortland, was sentenced to 12 months in prison for fourth-degree felony attempted compelling prostitution, fourth-degree felony attempted unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, and fifth-degree felony importuning. He was also designated a Tier II sex offender, requiring him to register with the sheriff’s office of the county where he resides. He requested sexual conduct from an undercover agent he believed to be a 15-year-old girl for an agreed upon price of $80 and then drove to Salem on Dec. 15, 2024 for the meeting with the phone used to make the arrangements in his possession.

— Robert Bryant Kerstanski, 45, Youngstown, pleaded guilty to fifth-degree felony obstructing official business, a lesser-included offense for third-degree felony failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer, and misdemeanor engaging in prostitution, with sentencing set for May 29. A charge of possessing criminal tools will be dismissed. Kerstanski was accused of responding to an undercover ad posted on a known prostitution website and arranging for allegedly unprotected sexual activity with a woman in exchange for $170, then driving to East Palestine on Oct. 17, 2025 for the meeting. When he arrived at the location and saw the agent pull in with emergency lights activated, he allegedly drove around him through a yard and fled northbound, but he got blocked in by the agent and a marked police unit.

— Jarrell L. Sloan, 51, 14th Street, Wellsville, was sentenced to at least five to seven and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to possession of a fentanyl-related compound, a first-degree felony, and fifth-degree felony possession of cocaine, with credit for 168 days served in jail. Sloan possessed fentanyl in an amount equal or greater than 20 grams but less than 50 grams and also possessed cocaine, both on Aug. 14, 2023.

— A judge denied a motion to suppress filed by a Salem man who wanted evidence in the drug case against him thrown out.

Mathew Bays, 38, East Perry Street, tried to claim improper issuance of the search warrant executed by the Columbiana County Drug Task Force and county Sheriff’s Office on Feb. 28, 2025 at a residence on old state Route 344, Leetonia near Franklin Square.

Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Washam found there was probable cause for the search warrant, citing the fact there was a drug overdose at the property on Oct. 3, 2024, then methamphetamine was found on a resident being taken into custody at the residence on a warrant on Oct. 5, 2024 and there were three different buys from the residence in January and February 2025.

Bays was charged with two first-degree felonies of aggravated trafficking of drugs and aggravated possession of drugs, fifth-degree felonies of two counts aggravated possession of drugs and one count possession of a fentanyl-related compound and two counts of misdemeanor possession of drugs, all with specifications for forfeiture of money from a drug case.

Bays allegedly possessed methamphetamine in an amount equal or greater than 50 times bulk but less than 100 times bulk, $376, amphetamine, fentanyl, psilocyn, xylazine and alprazolam. The trafficking charge dealt with the methamphetamine.

All of the charges stem from the DTF raid with the county Sheriff’s Office at the old state Route 344, Leetonia property. Units were assisted by police officers from Salem and Lisbon.

According to court records, the case against Bays remains set for trial on April 20.