Common Pleas

New Cases

Marilyn Wartluft, South 15th Street, Sebring, and Donald Wartluft, South 15th Street, Sebring; dissolution sought.

Docket Entries

American Homeowner Preservation LLC vs. Jonathan Spiker, et al.; case reinstated to active docket.

JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. vs. William Barz; case stayed due to bankruptcy filing.

U.S. Bank National Association vs. Jami Dittmar; $3,433 judgment granted to plaintiff.

Grand Jury

LISBON — Michael Berry Jr., 42, New Castle, Pa., was served Thursday with a secret indictment issued by the Columbiana County Grand Jury for aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, for allegedly possessing methamphetamine on May 3, 2023.

Court News

LISBON — An East Liverpool man accused of stealing two barge propellers in 2023 was sentenced to 12 months in prison for grand theft, a fourth-degree felony.

Kevin Frazier, 43, Michigan Avenue, entered a guilty plea to the charge last month in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court, with a charge of breaking and entering, a fifth-degree felony, dismissed. The propellers stolen on Nov. 14, 2023 were valued at $30,000 each.

Frazier received credit for 103 days served in jail.

He was also resentenced for a 2019 drug case for violating his probation, receiving eight-month terms in prison for possession of cocaine and possession of a fentanyl-related compound, both fifth-degree felonies. The terms were ordered served at the same time as the 12-month sentence for grand theft.

Frazier possessed fentanyl and less than 5 grams of cocaine on May 11, 2019.

Also in Common Pleas Court:

— Courtney Orr, 34, state Route 45, Leetonia, was found competent March 31 after a psychiatric evaluation and then on April 2 pleaded guilty to charges from two separate indictments, including third-degree felony strangulation, misdemeanor domestic violence and fifth-degree felony unauthorized use of a vehicle. Sentencing was set April 25. Orr was accused of grabbing a female relative’s arms and shoulders and placing her hands around her throat and pushing her during an altercation April 3, 2024 in Salineville, causing the victim to have trouble breathing and to fear for her life and safety. The unauthorized use of a vehicle charge stemmed from Orr using a 2021 Jeep Gladiator without the permission of the owner from March 12, 2024 to March 13, 2024.

— Charles Noel, 62, Glenn Street, East Liverpool, pleaded guilty to attempted possession of cocaine, a misdemeanor, and was sentenced to one day in jail, receiving credit for one day already served, leaving a balance of no days to serve. Noel was originally indicted for possession of cocaine, a fifth-degree felony, for possessing cocaine on Aug. 20, 2023.