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Common Pleas
NEW CASES
County Treasurer, Lisbon, vs. Shirley L. Baker, Bye Road, Rogers, et al.; delinquent property tax foreclosure sought for Bye Road, Rogers property.
County Treasurer, Lisbon, vs. Lonnie B. Watson Jr., Commerce Street, Wellsville; delinquent property tax foreclosure sought for Commerce Street, Wellsville property.
County Treasurer, Lisbon, vs. Joseph E. Riggs Sr., Trinity Church Road, Lisbon, et al.; delinquent property tax foreclosure sought for Lincoln Street, Salineville property.
County Treasurer, Lisbon, vs. Tammy Daggy, Ziegler Road, East Rochester, et al.; delinquent property tax foreclosure sought for Ziegler Road, East Rochester property.
Emily Wright, Hawkins Lane, Columbiana, vs. Timothy Wright, Hawkins Lane, Columbiana; divorce sought.
Danielle R. Ensinger, Ninth Street, Wellsville, vs. Brett A. Ensinger, Jackman Street, East Liverpool; divorce sought.
Matthew E. Miller, Carmel Achor Road, Rogers, vs Esther Kuhns, care of Sarah Kuhns, Clarkston, Ga.; legal separation sought.
Petition sought for certificate of qualification for employment by Madelyn Marie Hairston, North Street, Beloit, related to licensing as paramedic.
DOCKET ENTRIES
Onemain Financial Group, LLC vs. Stella B. Jackson; $20,929 judgment granted to plaintiff.
Rocket Mortgage, LLC vs. Timothy Allen Hayner, et al.; foreclosure complaint dismissed.
Mariner Finance, LLC vs. Aaron Fisher; case stayed due to bankruptcy filing.
Regional Acceptance Corp vs. Kasey Watkins; $10,864 judgment granted to plaintiff, plus $4,671 interest plus $570 associated costs.
County Treasurer vs. Jessica L. Hart, et al.; payment plan completed, foreclosure case dismissed.
Grand Jury
LISBON -- Crystle M. Geist-Miller, 38, Pricetown Road, Damascus, was served Wednesday with a secret indictment issued by the Columbiana County Grand Jury for aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, for possessing hydrocodone on Aug. 29, 2025.
Court News
LISBON -- A woman accused of having a knife at Utica Shale Academy earlier this year is scheduled to face a jury trial on Aug. 31.
Britania B. Brown, 45, Toronto, appeared recently for a status hearing for illegal conveyance or possession of a deadly weapon or dangerous ordnance in a school safety zone, a fifth-degree felony, for allegedly having a knife out at the Utica Shale Academy, Salineville on Jan. 14.
A police affidavit filed in county Municipal Court said she admitted to having a knife open while in the presence of a school teacher while at the school and had the knife in her possession. She had been found competent after a psychological evaluation and then her case was bound over to the grand jury, with an indictment issued in May.
In the recent hearing before Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Washam, it was indicated there was no resolution of the case at that time.
A further status hearing was set for 10:45 a.m. Aug. 20. Her bond remains set at $20,000 cash or surety. A motion by the defense requesting a furlough for Brown at the Eastern Ohio Correction Center to assist her mother with medical treatments remains pending. She had been sentenced to six months at the EOCC for violating her probation in an open burning or open dumping of solid waste case.
Also in Common Pleas Court:
-- Wilbert E. Faulk, 67, Minerva Street, East Liverpool, was ordered evaluated by the Forensic Psychiatric Center of Northeast Ohio for competency to stand trial for two counts of violation of a protection order, a fifth-degree felony, for allegedly showing up at the apartment of two protected persons in East Liverpool on Sept. 8 in violation of a protection order. A status hearing was set for Sept. 10. Faulk has another case pending for charges of third-degree felony violating a protection order, fifth-degree felony violating a protection order and fourth-degree felony domestic violence for allegedly striking a woman in the face while there was a protection order in place on May 22 in East Liverpool. The indictment for that case was just issued earlier this month, with the arraignment in the case set for next week canceled. A status hearing was set for Sept. 10. The defense attorney filed a motion suggesting mental incapacity.
-- Brandon Plum, 43, state Route 7, East Liverpool, was ordered to prison for 18 months, with credit for 42 days served in jail, after violating the terms of his probation for third-degree felony domestic violence and two counts misdemeanor criminal damaging. His participation in drug court was dishonorably terminated. Plum threw a woman down onto the bed, punching the wall several times, damaging a door and throwing her cell phone on April 30, 2020 in St. Clair Township.
-- Josiah Laughlin, 27, Youngstown, was sentenced to a total of 18 months in prison due to consecutive sentences for violating the terms of his probation in two different cases, with credit for 28 days served in jail. He received 12 months for aggravated trafficking in drugs, a fourth-degree felony, plus an additional six months for aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony. He possessed methamphetamine on Sept. 4, 2022 and attempted to sell it on Jan. 12, 2024.
-- Seaton I. Ruffner, 43, East Fifth Street, Salem, was ordered to prison for 12 months, with credit for 204 days served, for fourth-degree felonies of strangulation and domestic violence and fifth-degree felony vandalism for violating the terms of his probation. He was accused of choking another man from behind, causing him to not be able to breathe for a few moments during a domestic on April 10 in Salem. Ruffner damaged the rear window of a police cruiser by kicking it after his arrest.
-- George E. Faulkner Jr., 40, East Main Street, East Palestine, was sentenced to 11 months in prison for fourth-degree felonies of receiving stolen property and fraudulent actions concerning a VIN, and fifth-degree felony possessing criminal tools, with credit for one day served. He was ordered to pay restitution of $7,841. A criminal damaging charge was dismissed. Faulkner possessed a stolen Jeep in Perry Township on July 24, 2025. A police affidavit said an officer noticed a recently painted blue Jeep matching a white Jeep that was reported stolen with a Pennsylvania plate and confirmed the vehicle was stolen and observed the VIN to be covered with tape. The keys to the vehicle were found in the Faulkner's pants pocket.
-- Donald W. Lewis, 47, state Route 45, Lisbon, was sentenced to 12 months in prison for third-degree felony failure to provide notice of change of address, a lesser-included offense from the original second-degree felony charge, for failing to report moving on Sept. 25, 2025 for the sex offender registration. He received credit for two days served.
-- Richard B. Pettinger, 58, Malvern, pleaded guilty to aggravated possession of drugs, a third-degree felony, with sentencing set for Sept. 25 for possessing methamphetamine on April 24, 2021.
-- Brian Dean Tinker, 44, North Jefferson Street, Lisbon, was sentenced to eight months in prison, with credit for three days served, for failure to comply with an order or signal of a police officer, a fourth-degree felony, and misdemeanor obstructing official business. His license was suspended for three years. Another failure to comply charge was dismissed. He ran a stop sign at East Pine and North Jefferson in Lisbon, then fled when police attempted a traffic stop, crashing into a house on Jefferson and fleeing from officers on foot on Nov. 3, 2025, finally stopping in the cemetery.
-- John P. Powell Jr., 35, McKee Street, East Liverpool, was sentenced to 228 days in the county jail, with credit for 108 days served, leaving a balance of 120 days still to serve for violating the terms of his probation for aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, and misdemeanor possessing drug abuse instruments. He possessed methamphetamine and drug abuse instruments on Aug. 15, 2023.
Municipal
LISBON -- In Columbiana County Municipal Court, Anthony Dovell Jiles, 40, Pittsburgh, Pa., was fined $750 and sentenced to 180 days in jail, with 179 days suspended and credit for one day served, 25 hours community service and a prostitution prevention course for engaging in prostitution and possessing criminal tools for responding to an undercover ad on a known prostitution website and arranging for sexual activity with a woman in exchange for money and $150 worth of cocaine, then traveling to East Palestine on Feb. 17 for the meeting with cash, the phone used to make the arrangements and a plastic baggie with a white powder substance.
A pretrial was set Sept. 16 for James E. Hanlon, 39, Ohio Avenue, East Liverpool, charged with making false alarms for allegedly calling EMS and claiming that a woman had fallen and was hurt at a residence in East Liverpool, when the home was actually empty and the call was a false alarm on July 9. EMS was unable to make contact with anyone at the residence, made entry through a side window and found no one there.
A pretrial was set Aug. 3 for Laverna Marie Virden, 53, Wayne Drive East Liverpool, charged with endangering children and illegal use or possession of drug paraphernalia for allegedly using drugs and having drugs where children could access them in the bathroom on July 19 in St. Clair Township, with an uncapped syringe, a spoon and liquid and large torch lighter out in the open, with more spoons, another syringes, two crack pipes, a meth pipe and multiple tear offs in an open cabinet, an affidavit said.
William E. Harshman, 63, Pittsburgh, Pa., was fined $150 and sentenced to three days in jail, with credit for three days already served, for drug paraphernalia for possessing a corner tear off, suspected crack cocaine and a pill bottle with a white substance inside next to a torch lighter in Columbiana.
A pretrial was set Sept. 15 for Jonathon L. Maines, 38, Cherry Street, Salem, charged with illegal use or possession of drug paraphernalia for allegedly possessing a clear pipe with burnt residue and bag with a white crystal like substance during a traffic stop in Salem on July 14.
Daniel William Everett, 44, Dalton, Ga., was fined $150 and sentenced to 30 days in jail, with 29 days suspended and credit for one day served, with 25 hours community service for drug paraphernalia for possessing a paper fold with an unknown substance on April 13 while walking in St. Clair Township.
A pretrial was set Sept. 16 for Skylar T. McGee, 23, Struthers, charged with endangering children, operating a vehicle impaired second offense and OVI breath second offense for allegedly driving impaired with a 5-month-old child in the vehicle on July 17 in Salem.
A pretrial was set Sept. 15 for Bruce James Wagner, 38, Montana Avenue, East Liverpool, charged with OVI and reasonable control.
A pretrial was set Sept. 29 for Seth Anthony Dillon Sr., 35, North Versailles, Pa., charged with OVI, operating while under the influence of alcohol or drugs and improper passing.
Britteny A. Eavers, 33, New Springfield, was fined $1,165 and sentenced to 180 days in jail, with 177 days suspended, with credit for three days served in a driver intervention program, with $500 of the fine suspended, for physical control amended from OVI and a turn signal violation. Her license was suspended for one year with driving privileges granted and 25 hours community service.
Sean Christopher Dolby Sr., 56, Lowmiller Road, Wellsville, was fined $1,115 and sentenced to 180 days in jail, with 177 days suspended, with credit for three days served in a driver intervention program and $500 of the fine suspended for two merged OVI charges and reckless operation. His license was suspended for one year, with driving privileges granted, and 25 hours community service.