Court News

LISBON — An East Liverpool man accused of assaulting a woman and possessing a gun when he was prohibited from having one due to a previous conviction was sentenced to 36 months in prison.

John D. Lanam, 45, Anderson Boulevard, East Liverpool, appeared recently in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court where he pleaded guilty to third-degree felonies of tampering with evidence and having weapons while under disability and misdemeanor domestic violence. A fourth-degree felony strangulation charge was dismissed.

The sentence was immediate, with all the terms concurrent for a total of 36 months. The terms were also ordered concurrent or to be served at the same time as the 30-month sentence he received in November for two drug cases.

Lanam was accused of striking a woman with a closed fist, throwing her down and using his forearm to place around her throat to choke her after an argument on Oct. 10, 2025 in Liverpool Township. The victim also alleged that after the assault, he grabbed a rifle, but never pointed it at her. He was prohibited from having a firearm due to previous convictions.

Also in Common Pleas Court:

— William R. Payton, 21, Bouquet Street, Negley, pleaded guilty to charges from two separate indictments, including fifth-degree felony assault, two counts of fourth-degree felony assault and misdemeanors of disorderly conduct amended from domestic violence and resisting arrest. Sentencing was set for Aug. 27. One incident occurred March 25 in East Liverpool when Payton was being taken into custody for domestic violence and started pulling away from officers and was tased twice, then continued resisting officers, charging at an officer and also kicking an officer in the stomach. He also struck a corrections officer in the face multiple times while he was an inmate at the county jail in Lisbon on April 2.

— Justin R. Barrett, 41, whose last known address was listed as Sophia Street, East Liverpool, which was boarded up by the city as a nuisance property, entered guilty pleas in three different cases for various felonies, including one involving a pipe bomb found during the execution of a search warrant by the Columbiana County Drug Task Force at the Sophia Street, East Liverpool property on Feb. 12, 2025. Barrett pleaded guilty to third-degree felonies of two counts of having weapons while under disability and illegal conveyance of drugs of abuse onto the grounds of a specified governmental facility and fifth-degree felonies of unlawful possession of a dangerous ordnance, possessing criminal tools and aggravated possession of drugs. According to the indictment in the pipe bomb case from 2025, Barrett possessed the explosive device and was prohibited from having any weapons due to a previous drug conviction. On April 22, 2025 through April 24, 2025, he attempted to take drugs to the county jail and had a cell phone that was used criminally. Two counts of complicity in the commission of an offense were dismissed. He was accused of conspiring with others and aiding them to take drugs into the county jail. On Nov. 12, 2025, he possessed methamphetamine. A charge of trafficking drugs was dismissed. Sentencing for all three cases was set for Aug. 27.

— Jason M. Holloway, 45, Vine Street, East Liverpool, pleaded guilty to aggravated possession of drugs, a third-degree felony, with sentencing set for Aug. 28, for possessing methamphetamine on Feb. 21, 2025.

Municipal

LISBON – In Columbiana County Muncipal Court, Tyler Heffner, 22, Chester Avenue, Wellsville, was fined $200 and sentenced to 30 days in jail, with 29 days suspended and credit for one day served, with 40 hours community service ordered, for domestic violence. On June 5 in Wellsville, Heffner can be heard on video threatening a pregnant woman, causing her to believe he would harm her.

A pretrial was set July 1 for James Lee Davisson, 30, Laurel Lane, East Liverpool, charged with assault and intoxication for allegedly hitting another man in the face several times on June 24 in East Liverpool and being intoxicated.

A pretrial was set Aug. 10 for John Paul Peuterbaugh, 51, Woodland Avenue, Salem, charged with violation of a protection order for allegedly calling East Liverpool police to do a welfare check on a protected person on June 21 and also contacting two of the person’s relatives.

A pretrial was set Aug. 25 for Mark Allen Schrecengost, 36, state Route 170, East Palestine, charged with three counts of violate temporary protection order for allegedly being in the proximity of three protected persons on June 17 in East Palestine, with victims showing an investigator a video of Schrecengost dancing in the street and singing to himself, then speaking to victims seated on their own patio.

A pretrial was set July 6 for Ariel L. Durham, 37, Duck Creek Road, Salem, charged with public indecency expose private parts and disorderly conduct for allegedly banging on the door of a residence on Benton Road in Perry Township and breaking out one of the windows of the door, then walking down Benton Road topless with her breast exposed on June 14.

A pretrial was set July 1 for Charles Raymond Lewis, 44, Dresden Avenue, East Liverpool, charged with theft and criminal trespass for allegedly trespassing on the former East Liverpool Motor Lodge property on Dresden Avenue, East Liverpool and stealing wood and tire rings on March 4.

A disorderly conduct charge against Alan Sanders, 69, East Main Street, Washingtonville, was dismissed at the request of the state. The charge stemmed from an incident June 5 in Leetonia when he was allegedly disorderly with a police officer over a conversation the officer had with a relative of Sanders over blowing grass debris onto the officer’s truck.

A pretrial was set Aug. 25 for Tracy L. Sicklesmith, 50, Burrows Avenue, East Liverpool, charged with passing bad checks for allegedly writing bad checks for $150 on Nov. 6, 2023 and June 10, 2024.

Carson Lee Underwood, 23, Toronto, was fined $250 and given a suspended 30-day jail term and 20 hours community service for disorderly conduct. Underwood was ordered to make restitution of $1,500 to the victim through the probation department and to have no contact with the victim. The charge had previously been amended from criminal damaging. Underwood damaged the victim’s vehicle on Dec. 8, 2024.

A pretrial was set Aug. 25 for Kristopher A. Dean, 31, New Springfield, charged with operating a vehicle impaired second offense, operating while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, marked lanes, speeding and open container.

A pretrial was set Aug. 17 for Joshua Christopher Lesko, 23, Pittsburgh, Pa., charged with driving while texting and two counts of OVI.

John Christopher Tucker, 52, Mechanicstown, Hanoverton, was fined $1,075 and given a suspended 180-day jail term and 30 hours community service for reasonable control and physical control amended from OVI. Another OVI charge was dismissed. His license was suspended for one year.