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LISBON -- A Lisbon man who pleaded guilty recently to felonious assault, tampering with evidence and a firearm specification related to a 2025 shooting in Madison Township must serve at least nine years in prison.
Hunter Congrove, 23, state Route 45, could face a maximum 12 years in prison if the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections chooses to keep him inside at the end of the nine years, dependent on his behavior in jail.
Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge Megan Bickerton advised Congrove it's up to him, telling him he's very young and there are things he can do while in prison to become a better person, but he has to take the initiative.
She followed the recommendation of county Assistant Prosecutor Alec Beech for the sentence, with six to nine years for the felonious assault, a second-degree felony, a concurrent 12 months for the third-degree felony tampering with evidence charge and a mandatory additional three years for using a gun, bringing the total minimum to nine years. He received credit for 157 days served. A kidnapping charge was dismissed.
Beech said this was a close range shooting with a shotgun in the victim's leg.
A county sheriff's office report said the incident occurred March 12, 2025 when a woman called about a man she knew shooting another man in the leg with a shotgun. The victim advised they were in the house and the shooter was high on drugs when he pulled a shotgun on him, he told him to go ahead and shoot him and the suspect shot him. The suspect fled the residence in a Jeep before deputies arrived. Congrove was that suspect.
Congrove's defense attorney Charley Kidder said it was a bad situation due to drug use. He said that given the opportunity, with a lower end penalty, he believed his client would be successful, saying he was a good person who did some bad things.
Both his aunt and his mother spoke on Congrove's behalf, with his aunt saying she believed if drugs weren't involved, this incident wouldn't have happened, prompting Bickerton to challenge what she was saying. Bickerton pointed out that he was out on bond for another case when this incident occurred. His mother said this was a family incident and it was a mistake. She questioned the kidnapping charge, with Bickerton chastising her. The woman said she was sorry.
"All I got to say is I apologize. I didn't mean for any of this to happen," Congrove said, but then added he didn't feel he did anything wrong.
"He charged me and told me to do it. I don't understand. I was in my house, that's self-defense ma'am," he told the judge.
What followed was a back and forth between Congrove and Bickerton, with the judge telling him he's not taking accountability for his actions and Congrove continuing to question how the shooting was his fault. He said at one point that the victim charged him and made him feel threatened and claimed the victim slapped the shotgun down and it went off.
Bickerton reminded him that he entered a plea and she took that plea because he was in agreement and said he understood and now he's telling her he did nothing wrong. She told him to talk to his attorney about whether he wants to go forward, which he did, then he apologized to Bickerton.
"What I heard here today is that nothing is your fault," she told him.
She cited his extensive criminal record at the age of 23 and said he needs to change, telling him to show her he can do better and show his aunt and mother that he can do better.
"When you come out, be a better man," Bickerton said.