LISBON — A man accused of secretly taking videos of females in the Calcutta Walmart dressing room and the Planet Fitness locker room last year will face sentencing at 2 p.m. Aug. 15 after recently entering a plea deal.

Shane Lee Wright, 25, Laredo Drive, Negley, pleaded guilty directly to fifth-degree felony charges of voyeurism and possessing criminal tools in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court, without the case going through the county grand jury.

According to county Prosecutor Vito Abruzzino, a sentence of 12 months in prison will be recommended, along with deeming Wright a Tier I sex offender, requiring him to register his address as a sex offender every year for 15 years with the county sheriff’s office.

Wright was originally charged in August 2024 through county Municipal Court with fifth-degree felony voyeurism and misdemeanors of possessing criminal tools, inducing panic and eight counts of voyeurism.

Wright was caught Aug. 23, 2024 by St. Clair Township Police after officers were called to Planet Fitness on state Route 170 for a man found in the rafters, allegedly for the purpose of secretly taking pictures and/or videos of women.

According to a police affidavit, Wright told a detective that “he gained access through the ceiling in the men’s locker room, then maneuvered to different areas of the building (women’s locker room/tanning beds) to take the videos/photos of women with his cell phone. Shane L. Wright stated he does this for sexual gratification.”

During the investigation, videos were observed on his cell phone, including one of a known female juvenile inside the dressing room at the Calcutta Walmart on Aug. 12.

“Shane L. Wright did secretly and surreptitiously videotape, film from underneath the walls of a changing stall, with his personal cell phone,” the affidavit said, adding that the juvenile had a reasonable expectation of privacy.

According to the affidavits in the files, three videos were recorded on Aug. 12 and two on Aug. 21 of unknown females inside the dressing room at the Calcutta Walmart. Those videos were in addition to the one of the juvenile.

There was also evidence that Wright took videos of two different unknown women on Aug. 22 in the bathroom area of the women’s locker room at Planet Fitness from an elevated point, with the women unaware of the recording taking place. Video from Aug. 21 showed a woman getting undressed in a tanning bed room at Planet Fitness, also from an elevated point with the woman unaware of the recording taking place.

An affidavit said victims and witnesses discovered Wright in the ceiling at Planet Fitness on Aug. 23 “which caused a serious public inconvenience and alarm,” resulting in the inducing panic charge. The possessing criminal tools charge related to his cell phone.

mgreier@mojonews.com