Common Pleas

New Cases

County Treasurer, Lisbon, vs. Robert Martin, Seigler Road, Salineville, et al.; delinquent property tax foreclosure sought for Seigler Road, Salineville property.

Stephanie Hebron, New Middletown, vs. Herbert Hebron, West Maple Street, Salineville; divorce sought.

Hailey Avery, Canfield, vs. Marsha Cleveland, East State Street, Salem, and Summit County Children Services Board, Akron, and the Mentor Network, Independence; damages sought for refiled personal injury and negligence claims related to 2020 incident at Cleveland home.

Docket Entries

Megan Dow vs. National Collegiate Student Loan Trust, et al.; judgment granted to plaintiff against National Collegiate Student Loan Trust and Javitch Block, LLC, Javitch Block LLC conduct determined deceptive in violation of Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, statutory damages awarded for $1,000 per violation, hearing to be set for compensatory damages, punitive damages and attorney fees.

JPMorgan Chase Bank vs. Erik Burnworth; $17,326 judgment granted to plaintiff.

Grand Jury

LISBON — A Salineville man was served recently with a secret indictment issued by the Columbiana County Grand Jury accusing him of sexual conduct with a minor.

Alan Taylor, 32, Academy Street, was charged with unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, a third-degree felony, for allegedly having sexual conduct with a teen from April 1, 2023 through Nov. 30, 2023. The teen was 14 years told when the sexual conduct began.

Also served with a secret indictment was Malik Pullie, 27, Commerce Street, Wellsville, who was charged with possession of cocaine, a fifth-degree felony, for allegedly possessing cocaine on Oct. 14, 2023.

Court News

LISBON — A East Liverpool man already sentenced to 45 months in prison for multiple charges was ordered to serve an additional nine months after being sentenced for another case, bringing his grand total to 54 months or four and a half years.

Ryan Blystone, 45, Claibourne Street, appeared for sentencing this week in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court for complicity to attempted felonious assault, a third-degree felony, and misdemeanor aggravated menacing. The first count was originally complicity in the commission of an offense, a second-degree felony.

Blystone was accused of causing a person to believe he would cause the person serious physical harm on July 15, 2023 and he also prevented others from breaking up an assault or aiding the victim. He received a sentence of nine months for this case.

He received the other 45 months for charges from two other indictments and a probation violation. The terms for each indictment were ordered served consecutive to each other and consecutive to the term for the probation violation, with the latest case also to be ordered consecutively, or one after the other.

For fourth-degree felony possession of deadly weapon while under detention and misdemeanor possession of drugs, he received 12 months in prison for having the knife and possessing buprenorphine on March 1, 2022.

He received an additional 18 months in prison for third-degree felony failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer and misdemeanors of operating a vehicle impaired, driving under suspension and illegal use or possession of drug paraphernalia for charges stemming from an April 15 traffic stop attempt when Blystone accelerated at a high rate of speed and fled before crashing on state Route 267, fleeing on foot and being found in an area of brush. He had a clear glass smoking device with visible residue in his possession.

For violating his probation for charges of third-degree felony domestic violence and misdemeanor endangering children, he was ordered to serve an additional 15 months in prison. The charges stemmed from Dec. 20, 2021 when he attempted to harm a woman and put a child at risk. His probation was dishonorably terminated.

All together, the sentences totaled 54 months.

Also in Common Pleas Court:

— Ronald Lee Smalley, 62, Gavers Road, Hanoverton, lost his driver’s license for the rest of his life during sentencing for two counts third-degree felony operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse or combination of them-OVI, a specification for forfeiture of a vehicle and misdemeanor driving under suspension for a traffic stop April 18 on state Route 172 in Hanover Township. He was sentenced to 36 months in prison, which includes a mandatory 60 days, for the merged OVI charges and driving under suspension. He received credit for 14 days served in jail. He also received a mandatory fine of $1,350. An affidavit from the Ohio State Highway Patrol noted that Smalley’s driving history revealed seven prior OVI convictions dating back to 1992, with two previous felony OVI convictions. The previous convictions enhanced this latest charge to a higher degree of felony. The court also will grant forfeiture of the vehicle Smalley was driving, a 2013 blue Toyota Avalon.

— Timothy Adkins, 48, Rose Drive, Lisbon, pleaded guilty to fourth-degree felony menacing by stalking and fifth-degree felonies of telecommunications harassment and theft after being found competent to stand trial. Charges of fifth-degree felony telecommunications fraud and misdemeanors of misuse of a credit card and theft will be dismissed. Sentencing was set for Nov. 25. The menacing and harassment charges stemmed from Nov. 14, 2023 to April 12, 2024 when he allegedly engaged in a pattern of conduct to cause a woman to believe he would cause her physical harm and also harassed her. The other charges stemmed from Jan. 15, 2024 when he allegedly stole the woman’s credit card, misused the credit card and stole $15.97 from the woman while also allegedly committing telecommunications fraud.

— William Hebron, 31, Macklin Road, New Waterford, pleaded guilty to attempted unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, a fourth-degree felony, with sentencing set for Dec. 2. Charges of importuning and possessing criminal tools, both fifth-degree felonies, were being dismissed. Beginning on June 25, 2021 and continuing through June 26, 2021, Hebron allegedly used his phone in an attempt to solicit someone he believed to be a 15-year-old girl to have sex with him, before arriving at the meeting location to pick the girl up on June 26, 2021.

— Kristen Moore, 51, East High Street, Lisbon, was placed under community control for three years and ordered to serve 120 days in the county jail for fourth-degree felony attempted tampering with evidence, a lesser-included offense for the original third-degree felony charge, and misdemeanor endangering children. A second charge of tampering with evidence was dismissed. All the charges stem from activity from Aug. 16, 2022 to Nov. 15, 2022, with the endangering children charge involving a child who was 10 years old when the risk to the child’s health began.

— Tai Kotas, 43, Newell, W.Va., pleaded guilty to fourth-degree felony receiving stolen property and misdemeanor unauthorized use of a motor vehicle for driving a stolen 2019 Chevy belonging to Avis Budget Group on Jan. 28 in Perry Township without permission. Sentencing was set for Nov. 25.

— Javott Dawson, 21, Campbell, pleaded guilty to failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer, a third-degree felony, with sentencing set for Nov. 18. The charge stems from Dawson fleeing from police on Aug. 21, 2022.

— Thomas Holman, 43, Hammond School Road, Wellsville, was ordered evaluated for competency to stand trial by the Forensic Psychiatric Center of Northeast Ohio. He’s charged with fifth-degree felony violating a protection order for allegedly being involved in a disturbance on Jan. 9 with a woman who has a protection order against him.

— Kevin Kisner, 44, Columbus, was placed on an intervention plan for 18 months after pleading guilty to aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, for possessing methamphetamine on April 1, 2022.

— Destiny Earich, 26, Aten Avenue, Wellsville, was ordered to serve 191 days in the county jail for violating her probation for trafficking in cocaine, a fourth-degree felony. Her community control was dishonorably terminated. Earich was accused of preparing cocaine for sale on April 18, 2018.

— Santee Baumgarner, 26, Chester, W.Va., pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine, a fifth-degree felony, with sentencing set for Nov. 25. Baumgarner possessed cocaine on Feb. 21, 2023.