LISBON — Christian R. Barrow, first was sentenced to 18 months in prison for drug-related charges, and then told Judge C. Ashley Pike some of his concerns about the Columbiana County Jail, where he has been incarcerated since last September.

Barrow, 30, of Cleveland, has seen his share of correctional facilities. Prior to sentencing, Assistant County Prosecutor Tammie Riley Jones noted Barrow has a lengthy criminal record with multiple felonies and a record going back to when he was a juvenile.

Because he has new charges issued by the grand jury stemming from recent incidents at the jail, Barrow has to remain in Columbiana County at least through Thursday, when he is scheduled to be arraigned on those new charges. He was credited on Monday with 269 days already served toward the 18-month prison sentence handed down by Pike for four counts of possession of drugs and one count of tampering with evidence for attempting to hide the drugs from the authorities on Sept. 8, 2017.

After sentencing, Pike asked him about the conditions at the jail.

“It sounds like it’s not a safe place to be,” Pike said, referring to something Barrow had relayed to his attorney about being sprayed with mace several times and not being given a shower for a couple of days afterwards, as well as being placed in a 23-hour lock down.

Barrow told Pike incarceration has made him act like a different person, causing him to act a certain way to survive.

“This lifestyle is not like me,” Barrow said.

Barrow said in other facilities there are cameras, which make people think twice because they are concerned about getting into more trouble. However, Barrow said the county jail lacks cameras, and the guards are too afraid to come into the prisoner pods.

Barrow told Pike as a type one diabetic, he has to take insulin three times a day. Recently, he felt his blood sugar going low and called a corrections officer on the intercom for help. Barrow said he wanted the guard to come and help him check his blood sugar and get him some glucose or something to prevent him from going into a diabetic coma.

However, Barrow said the guard was scared and told him he would not come until a supervisor came to go in with him. Barrow said it was 45 minutes before the corrections officer came in, and in the meantime, another inmate had given him a bag of chips and nutty bar, which brought his blood sugars back up.

Barrow also said he has reported things stolen at the jail, and one day six of the toilets in his pod overflowed, leaving feces and water ankle deep on the floor in the cell. He said he had been watching TV when the overflow happened, but was eventually locked down in that cell.

“People are incarcerated for a reason,” Pike said after listening to Barrow, “and their personal safety should not be put at risk.”

Prior to sentencing, Barrow had asked Pike to consider sending him for some help with his drug addiction, noting there are more drugs in prison than there are on the street and that he was the son of drug addicts, who has recently struggled with a heroin addiction himself.

The additional charges Barrow is facing are for complicity to aggravated robbery, felonious assault and two counts of intimidation for his alleged part in a group which authorities believe assaulted and robbed of a fellow inmate at the jail.

Barrow’s account is just one of many reports of problems at the jail in recent months. In another story in the Journal more than a week ago, Commissioner Mike Halleck stated the county plans to use state money for a body scanner and a new camera system to address some of the concerns. Additionally, Halleck suggested there may be the need for higher pay and better training for the corrections officers, who are the employees of the private company overseeing the jail, the GEO Group.