Common Pleas

New Cases

County Treasurer, Lisbon, vs. James Moraski, state Route 154, Lisbon, et al.; delinquent property tax foreclosure sought for state Route 154, Lisbon property.

County Treasurer, Lisbon, vs. Park Place Investments, LLC, Park Avenue, Columbiana, et al.; delinquent property tax foreclosure sought for East Third Street, Salem property.

County Treasurer, Lisbon, vs. Lamb’s House Inc., Leetonia, et al.; delinquent property tax foreclosure sought for Union Ridge Road, Rogers property.

Linda Danley, South Park Circle, East Liverpool, vs. William Danley, South Park Circle, East Liverpool; divorce sought.

City of East Palestine, care of Regional Income Tax Agency, North Market Street, East Palestine, vs. Timothy Hooley and Donann Hooley, both West North Avenue, East Palestine; collection sought of alleged $7,811 debt from income taxes from 2018 through 2022.

Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Des Moines, Iowa vs. Daniel Thomas, Washington Street, Washingtonville, et al.; mortgage foreclosure sought.

Docket Entries

Huntington National Bank vs. Kenneth Foster, et al.; case dismissed.

U.S. Bank National Association vs. Jamie Bogart; $7,695 judgment granted to plaintiff.

Grand Jury

LISBON — Two drug defendants were served Monday with secret indictments issued by the Columbiana County Grand Jury, including:

— Jessie Vega, 31, Youngstown, aggravated possession of drugs, a third-degree felony, for allegedly possessing methamphetamine in an amount equal or greater than bulk but less than five times bulk on Aug. 5, 2024.

— Sean McKnight, 54, Pittsburgh, Pa., aggravated possession of drugs and possession of a fentanyl-related compound, both fifth-degree felonies, for allegedly possessing methamphetamine and fentanyl on Aug. 11, 2023.

Court News

LISBON — An East Palestine man entered guilty pleas recently in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court to drug charges from two separate indictments.

Kristopher Elsass, 65, West Clark Street, pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of cocaine, a fifth-degree felony, and misdemeanor illegal use or possession of drug paraphernalia.

Sentencing was set for May 22.

Elsass was accused possessing cocaine and drug paraphernalia on July 11, 2023 and possessing cocaine on Feb. 1, 2024.

— A New Waterford man accused of possessing child pornography will face sentencing June 2 after pleading guilty Friday to 18 counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor or impaired person, a fourth-degree felony.

In Columbiana County Common Pleas Court, Corey Andrew Cantwell, 26, Creek Road, agreed to a deal which will include the dismissal of seven counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor or impaired person, a fourth-degree felony.

Cantwell was indicted last year for possessing numerous images of child sexual assault material on a cell phone on March 18, 2024, according to an affidavit filed in county Municipal Court. He was in possession of the phone March 10 during an incident in East Palestine. Police executed a search warrant to search the phone later and found the images.

Also in Common Pleas Court:

— Meghan McElroy, 31, Maple Hill Road, Salineville, pleaded guilty to drug charges from two separate indictments, including fifth-degree felony aggravated possession of drugs, two counts of fifth-degree felony possession of drugs and misdemeanor possession of drug abuse instruments. Sentencing was set for April 11. McElroy was accused of possessing methamphetamine on Feb. 6, 2023 and drug abuse instruments on Jan. 27, 2024. On May 10, 2023, she possessed xylazine and benzodiazepine.

— Megan Detchon, 35, Waddell Street, Leetonia, was placed under community control for two years after pleading guilty to aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, for possessing oxycodone on June 27, 2023.

— Michael Dunlap, 47, West School Street, East Rochester, was placed under community control for two years after pleading guilty to aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, for possessing methamphetamine on March 22, 2023.

— Rachel Hess, 31, Rochester, Pa., was placed on a treatment plan for three years and ordered to serve a term at the Eastern Ohio Correction Center until the program is successfully completed after pleading guilty to aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony. She received credit for eight days served in jail. Hess possessed methamphetamine on July 26, 2023.

Municipal

LISBON — In Columbiana County Municipal Court, Donald Hays, 55, North Jefferson Street, Lisbon, was fined $250 and given a suspended 90-day jail term for attempted assault amended from domestic violence. He was ordered to complete 25 days community service and to have no contact with the victim. Hays was accused of pushing a woman down the stairs of his home, causing visible injury to her on Dec. 24, 2024 in Lisbon.

A charge of violation of a temporary protection order was dismissed against Frank Phillips, 28, Newgarden Avenue, Salem, with court documents saying there was no protection order in place. Costs were taxed to the state. Phillips was accused of allegedly being inside a vehicle with a protected person on Jan. 26 in Columbiana.

A pretrial was set April 3 for Carl David Gooding, 43, Putnam Street, East Liverpool, charged with drug paraphernalia and criminal damaging for allegedly possessing glass meth pipe after being detained by East Liverpool police officers on Nov. 23, 2024 and allegedly breaking a car window with a rock on Nov. 30, 2024 in East Liverpool. He’s also facing a probation violation hearing for allegedly violating his probation for several 2024 cases for criminal damaging, obstructing official business, failure to comply and theft.

Charges of maximum permissible height of weeds and litter were dismissed against Patricia Myers, 55, state Route 39, Wellsville, with costs taxed to the defendant. She was accused of having grass or weeds higher than 12 inches and an accumulation of trash and rubbish at an East Liverpool property on Florence Street in 2024.

Taira Scullion, 34, East Sixth Street, Salem, was fined $200 and given a suspended 60-day jail term for attempted possessing drug abuse instrument amended from possessing drug abuse instrument. Scullion was accused of possessing syringes on Nov. 27, 2024 in Salem.

A pretrial was set June 12 for Steven Cunningham, 34, Central Avenue, East Liverpool, charged with drug paraphernalia for allegedly possessing syringes and a glass crack pipe during a traffic stop on March 13 in East Liverpool.

Rodney Giannone, 59, East Main Street, Salineville, was fined $200 and given a suspended 90-day jail term for possessing drug abuse instrument. He was ordered to complete 20 hours community service. Giannone possessed a used syringe during a traffic stop in East Liverpool on July 2, 2024.

Joseph Bernardi, 45, Globe Street, East Liverpool, was fined $975 and sentenced to 90 days in jail, with 84 days suspended and credit for three days served in a driver intervention program, leaving a balance of three days to serve for operating a vehicle impaired first offense amended from OVI breath second offense and open container. Charges of OVI second offense and operating off road vehicle on roadway were dismissed. His driver’s license was suspended for two years and he was ordered to complete 40 hours community service.

A pretrial was set May 5 for Ashley Felger, 35, Echo Dell Road, Rogers, charged with OVI first offense, no seat belt and reasonable control.

A pretrial was set May 22 for George Manso Jr., 30, Cleveland, charged with speeding and a turn signal violation.

Genny Dempsey, 38, Mingo Junction, was fined $100 for an equipment violation amended from speeding.

Jeremy McNish, 38, East State Street, Salem, was fined $50 for forfeiture.

Christian Vega, 37, New Kensington, Pa., was fined $100 for a tail light violation amended from assured clear distance.

Thomas Belan Jr., 47, Apache Lane, Columbiana, was fined $50 for failure to move left for public safety vehicle.

Chance Cope, 18, Smith Road, Kensington, was fined $125 for expired registration and an equipment violation amended from failure to control.

Ryan Brown, 29, Youngstown, was fined $300 for driving under suspension and speeding.

Finton Ahearn, 21, Dyer, Ind., was fined $25 for speeding.