LISBON — A Warren man who failed to report to the Columbiana County jail in December for a three-year prison term after being convicted last August is finally serving his prison sentence after being arrested in Austintown recently on charges related to a shoplifting incident.

Joshua T. Huey, 37, arrived into the custody of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections on Tuesday after several months of avoiding arrest for a bench warrant issued Dec. 9, 2024 by Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Washam.

Huey was indicted on June 26 by the Mahoning County Grand Jury for fifth-degree felonies of theft, vandalism and possessing criminal tools for a May 26 incident at the Home Depot in Austintown where he allegedly identified himself as a DeWalt Tools sales representative and then proceeded to forcibly cut open several sealed boxes of DeWalt Tools lawn mowers and conceal the batteries to the lawn mowers inside a Home Depot bucket and a DeWalt Tools bag.

An Austintown Police Department report said a Home Depot loss prevention representative saw it all and also saw Huey load a miter saw stand onto a flatbed cart and at some point he approached the DeWalt power tool section of the store and used a pair of bolt cutters from a neighboring aisle to break a lock to the metal gate containing numerous power tools. The report said he attempted to push the flatbed cart out of the main entrance without paying for 23 items. The total cost for the stolen merchandise was $4,210 for the items, which included several DeWalt batteries, saws, blowers and grinders.

The possessing criminal tools charge stemmed from him allegedly using and possessing a pocket knife to open the sealed boxes and the vandalism charge was for breaking the locked gate.

In May, prior to the incident in Austintown, the company that covered the bond for Huey paid $15,000 to the Columbiana County Clerk of Courts after being unable to locate him.

In November 2024, Washam had dissolved the stay of execution of the sentence he had issued pending appeal since Huey never filed the appeal with the Seventh District Court of Appeals and his attempt at a federal court challenge failed.

Huey represented himself in a jury trial in August 2024 in county Common Pleas Court for multiple charges related to weapons and impaired driving, telling the judge repeatedly that he wasn’t participating in the proceedings. He called no witnesses for his defense and prior to trial, he filed notices of writs to dismiss the criminal complaint which were then denied by Washam. Huey made claims of lack of jurisdiction and lack of due process as the reasons the complaint should be dismissed.

The jury found him guilty of third-degree felony having weapons while under disability, fifth-degree felonies of improper handling firearms in a motor vehicle and possession of fentanyl-related compound, two counts fourth-degree felony receiving stolen property and misdemeanors of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse or a combination of both and OVI refusal with prior within 20 years. For the receiving stolen property charges, the jury also found that the stolen property in each count was a firearm.

The criminal case stemmed from an Oct. 8, 2023 traffic stop in Leetonia when an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper found Huey impaired and also found two stolen guns in the vehicle and fentanyl in his wallet. Huey was prohibited from having a weapon due to a previous felony conviction and was accused of driving impaired with a loaded handgun in the vehicle.

Washam sentenced Huey to 24 months in prison for having weapons while under disability, 12 months each for the receiving stolen property charges, six months each for the improper handling of a firearm and drug charges and then a local sentence of 120 days for the OVI charge. He said the weapons charges, drug charge and OVI would be served at the same time or concurrently. The receiving stolen property counts were ordered served concurrent with each other but consecutive to the other charges.

That brought the total prison term to 36 months, or three years.

Washam also suspended Huey’s driver’s license for three years and gave him a mandatory fine of $1,000. He had advised him of his right to file a notice of appeal within 30 days of his sentencing and granted Huey’s request to stay the execution of the sentence while an appeal was pending . He also warned him that if he didn’t file an appeal, he would have to report to jail. Huey never filed the appeal, instead filing a motion in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio against Washam, county Prosecutor Vito Abruzzino and Assistant Prosecutor Alec Beech. He claimed fraud occurred and challenged the various rulings in the case, asking U.S. District Judge David Ruiz to vacate the Common Pleas Court judgment, but Ruiz dismissed the complaint, writing that federal district court lacks the power to review such cases rendered by state courts, in this case, the Common Pleas Court. He dismissed the case for “lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.”