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Common Pleas
NEW CASES
Sherri Lynn Hicks, state Route 45, Lisbon, vs. Earl Dean Hicks, St. Clarksville; divorce sought.
Velocity Investments, LLC, Wall, N.J., vs. Cody Rohrmann, Bye Road, East Palestine; case transferred from Columbiana County Municipal Court.
NewRez LLC, Greenville, S.C., vs. Albert Shultz, West Main Street, Leetonia, et al.; mortgage foreclosure sought for West Main Street, Leetonia property.
DOCKET ENTRIES
Lakeview Loan Servicing LLC vs. Lawrence L. Crum, et al.; judgment vacated, case dismissed.
Court News
LISBON -- A Wellsville man who entered a guilty plea to possession of cocaine won't have to serve any additional time in prison, with the 12-month sentence to be served concurrent with the prison sentence he's already been serving.
Derek J. Thompson, 31, Chester Avenue, pleaded guilty to the third-degree felony cocaine possession charge with a forfeiture specification recently in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court, with a charge of trafficking in cocaine to be dismissed.
The sentence included 12 months in prison, but to be served at the same time as a case from 2024 and two cases from 2025. He also received a mandatory $5,000 fine for possessing 10 to 20 grams of cocaine and $414 on May 1, 2025. He must forfeit the $414.
Thompson was sentenced in December 2025 to 24 months in prison for charges from three different cases, including third-degree felony illegal conveyance of drugs of abuse onto the grounds of a specified governmental facility and fifth-degree felonies of aggravated possession of drugs, two counts possession of cocaine, two counts possession of a fentanyl-related compound, possession of heroin, and two counts possession of drugs. In those cases, Thompson possessed cocaine and methamphetamine on July 18, 2022, took drugs into a detention facility and possessed cocaine, fentanyl, bromazolam and xylazine on May 31, 2024 and possessed heroin, fentanyl and xylazine on Dec. 18, 2024.
Also in Common Pleas Court:
--Samantha L. Harrison, 36, Boardman Street, New Waterford, was sentenced to community control for 12 months, with a suspended 180-day jail term, after pleading guilty to a lesser offense of attempted obstructing official business, a misdemeanor. She was originally indicted for aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, for possessing methamphetamine on March 1, 2024.
-- Thomas R. Welsh, 41, East Fourth Street, Salem, pleaded guilty to charges from two separate indictments, including a lesser offense of attempted trespass in a habitation when a person is present or likely to be present, a fifth-degree felony, and third-degree felony aggravated possession of drugs. The trespass charge was originally a fourth-degree felony for trespassing in a habitation. A third-degree felony charge of aggravated trafficking in drugs will be dismissed. Sentencing was set for Sept. 10. Welsh was accused of crawling through a window with another person and entering a recently sold residence in Salem on Oct. 17, 2025. He possessed methamphetamine on April 27, 2025.
Municipal
LISBON -- In Columbiana County Municipal Court, a preliminary/pretrial hearing was set Aug. 5 for Joel Felipe Lopez, 21, Sharon, Pa., charged with third-degree felony tampering with evidence and misdemeanors of engaging in prostitution, possessing criminal tools and obstructing official business. Lopez allegedly responded to an undercover ad on a known prostitution website and arranged for sexual activity with a woman in exchange for $100 to be paid via the Cash App, then was traveling to Unity Township for the meeting on July 8. According to the affidavit, while he was en route, his girlfriend called the undercover number and wanted to know who her boyfriend was communicating with. When he arrived, he turned his vehicle as if he was attempting to flee, but was blocked, then refused to exit the vehicle or roll down the window and was observed deleting data from his mobile device. He finally opened the door and was removed the vehicle.
A pretrial was set July 15 for Luke Andrew Morrison, 27, Cora Street, East Liverpool, charged with domestic violence for allegedly striking another man while they were arguing over a household bill, pushing his head down while walking by him on July 9 in East Liverpool.
A pretrial was set July 20 for Douglas E. Gill, 45, state Route 7, Rogers, charged with violation of a protection order for allegedly text messaging the relative of a protected person on June 17 and June 18 in Center Township, in violation of a protection order.
A charge of falsification against Jayshawn J. Sanders, 29, Youngstown, was dismissed, with a notation that the state was unable to locate the complaining witness. Sanders was accused of allegedly providing a false name while on a traffic stop on May 23, 2015 in Elkrun Township.
Joseph R. Crowder, 37, Ravenna, was ordered to serve 10 days in jail for violating the terms of his probation for a 2025 case of engaging in prostitution and possessing criminal tools for a sex for hire case in Salem in April 2025.
A pretrial was set July 15 for Matthew J. Crowl, 47, East Third Street, Salem, charged with complicity to commit theft for allegedly attempting to steal groceries from Walmart in Salem on June 26.
A pretrial was set Sept. 15 for Brian W. Keith, 56, Minerva Street, East Liverpool, charged with obstructing official business for fleeing into the woods when East Liverpool police arrived to do a warrant check on him, with outstanding warrants for his arrest. He refused to stop until a taser was deployed on July 9 in East Liverpool.
A pretrial was set Sept. 15 for Michael C. Rapp, West Salem Street, Columbiana, charged with criminal damaging for allegedly knowingly striking the rear of a woman's vehicle at a stop light in Salem in a road rage incident on July 4. The victim reported the defendant allegedly became enraged when she switched lanes and got in front of his vehicle, then traveled too closely behind her.
Robert McLaughlin, 66, Lincoln Avenue, East Liverpool, was fined $400 and sentenced to five days in jail, with credit for one day served, leaving a balance of four days still to serve for disorderly conduct and three counts of intoxication. He was shouting profanities at EMS while in public and intoxicated after being told to stop several times on June 25 in East Liverpool. The public intoxication incidents took place on April 8, April 10 and June 25, all in East Liverpool.