Common Pleas

News Cases

County Treasurer, Lisbon, vs. Bruce A. Maher, Westview Drive, Salem, et al.; delinquent property tax foreclosure sought for Westview Drive, Salem property.

Tara Woods, Roselyn Avenue, Wellsville, vs. Terry Beabout, state Route 39, Salineville; divorce sought.

Michael Monroe, Morgantown, W.Va. vs. Rian Harkins, Follansbee, W.Va.; damages sought for alleged negligence and personal injury claims from 2024 traffic crash.

Docket Entries

Amanda Asher vs. Christopher Asher; dissolution granted.

County Treasurer vs. Samuel R. Shasteen, et al.; delinquent property taxes paid, case dismissed.

County Treasurer vs. PROPCO 4321 LLC, et al.; delinquent property taxes paid, case dismissed.

Grand Jury

LISBON — A Wellsville man accused of throwing a woman at a coffee table was one of 10 defendants openly indicted by the Columbiana County Grand Jury this week.

Dale Kenneth Lefebvre, 55, Wells Hollow Road, was charged with felonious assault, a second-degree felony, for allegedly grabbing a woman and throwing her at a coffee table after an argument, causing a deep cut to her forehead when her head hit the corner of the table on Jan. 1 in Yellow Creek Township.

The grand jury met for two days, examining 39 witnesses, covering 39 cases, issuing 10 open indictments and 29 secret indictments. Secret indictments aren’t revealed until the defendant is taken into custody and served with the paperwork.

Other defendants openly indicted were:

— Ethan M. Hill, 23, last known address East Main Street, East Palestine, fourth-degree felony strangulation, fifth-degree felony domestic violence and misdemeanors of domestic violence, endangering children, criminal damaging and unlawful restraint. Hill allegedly struck a woman in the face numerous times, picked her up off the ground by her throat and pushed her while she had a child in her arms on Jan. 27 in East Palestine. She also said she was pregnant and that he backhanded her several days previous to this incident.

–Taylor Scott Snyder, 35, North Market Street, East Palestine, strangulation and domestic violence, both fourth-degree felonies, and misdemeanor aggravated menacing for allegedly beating a woman and saying he was going to kill her on Jan. 29 in East Palestine. The affidavit said he allegedly threw her around like a rag doll, biting her left ear, kicking her in the back of her neck, attempting to gouge her eye out, pulling her earrings out, punching her and putting her in a headlock.

— Joshua R. Greene, 41, North Lincoln Avenue, Salem, fourth-degree felony strangulation and misdemeanor domestic violence for allegedly grabbing a woman by the neck pulling her back into his apartment in Salem, causing a risk of physical harm and visible marks on her neck on Jan. 26.

— George S. Feezle III, 50, Enon Valley, Pa., misdemeanors of assault and criminal trespass for an incident that occurred Jan. 18 in Salem. Feezle was accused of joining in the assault of a man by another man who used a pair of channel locks to assault the victim. Feezle had allegedly fled the scene, then officers were called back to the East Third Street, Salem property where they found him hiding under a large bean bag chair in the basement. The homeowner also reported Feezle had come to the residence earlier in the day and was yelling at her when she told him to leave and refused.

— Thomas R. Welsh, 40, East Fourth Street, Salem, misdemeanor assault for physically harming another man on Jan. 18 in Salem.

— Christopher Paul Maher, 41, Pittsburgh, Pa., third-degree felony compelling prostitution, fifth-degree felony possessing criminal tools and misdemeanor engaging in prostitution for allegedly responding to an undercover ad on a known prostitution website of an adult mother trafficking her minor daughter and arranging for sexual activity with the females, including the minor, in exchange for money, traveling to East Palestine on Dec. 26 for the meeting with the phone used to make the arrangements in his possession.

— Donald Nelson Blevins III, 46, Warren, third-degree felony compelling prostitution, fifth-degree felony possessing criminal tools and misdemeanor engaging in prostitution for allegedly responding to an undercover ad on a known prostitution website depicting a minor female and upon learning the age of the minor, advising her “you never told me that,” then arranging for sexual activity with the female in exchange for money. Then on Jan. 10, Blevins allegedly arrived at the meeting location in East Palestine with the phone used to make the arrangements in his possession along with pink lemonade alcohol he was told to bring.

— Patrick J. Dilworth III, 38, New Springfield, third-degree felony compelling prostitution and fifth-degree felony possessing criminal tools for allegedly responding to an undercover ad on a known prostitution website of a juvenile female being portrayed as a foster child runaway and arranging to have sexual activity with her in exchange for $140, then traveling to East Palestine on Nov. 19 for the meeting with the phone used to make the arrangements in his possession.

— Donald Ray Smith, 66, Speidel Road, Lisbon, two counts of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse or a combination of them-OVI, third-degree felony, and misdemeanor driving under suspension for an incident on Jan. 10.

Court News

LISBON — A Lisbon man accused last year of possessing images of minors in a state of nudity entered guilty pleas to all the charges against him.

William Kiehl, 67, West Spruce Street, pleaded guilty in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court to six counts of fourth-degree felony pandering obscenity involving a minor or impaired person and three counts of fifth-degree felony illegal use of a minor or impaired person in nudity-oriented material or performance.

Sentencing was set for April 30. According to the felony plea agreement, a total prison term of 60 months or five years will be recommended by the prosecution.

According to an affidavit filed in county Municipal Court by an agent with the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force, Kiehl was accused of downloading one image of what appeared to be child sexual assault material on April 10, 2024 and when interviewed on July 18, 2025, admitted to uploading the image and that he had obtained other images and child sexual assault material. On July 18, 2025, the task force executed a search warrant at his Lisbon residence and found images stored on a computer which depicted minors in a state of nudity.

Also in Common Pleas Court:

— Mason A. Taylor, 25, Oakmont Avenue, East Liverpool, was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to a lesser-included offense of attempted felonious assault, a third-degree felony, for striking a man in the face through an open car door during a reported fight in East Liverpool on July 27, 2025. He was originally indicted for felonious assault, a second-degree felony. He received credit for 20 days served in jail.

— Anthony C. Greathouse, 35, Lewis Road, Salineville, was sentenced to 12 months in prison for three separate cases. He entered guilty pleas to obstructing official business and two counts theft, all fifth-degree felonies, for stealing a total of $1,499 worth of merchandise from Salem Walmart during incidents on July 14, 2025 and July 17, 2025, for stealing $1,176 worth of tools and other items from Busy Beaver in St. Clair Township on July 27, 2025 and for fleeing from Salineville police officers attempting to serve a warrant on Aug. 28, 2025. He had already entered a guilty plea last year for the third case for charges of breaking and entering, a fifth-degree felony, and misdemeanor theft for breaking into the Dollar General in Salineville and stealing a table and chairs on Oct. 26,2024. He received credit for 123 days already served in jail.

— Logan T. Blake, 27, New Cumberland, W.Va., pleaded guilty to aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, with sentencing set for April 30. Blake possessed methamphetamine on Aug. 27, 2024.

— Christopher Brink, 45, last known address Franklin Avenue, Salem, had his jail time credit corrected from 143 days to 303 days for time he spent in the county jail. He was sentenced last year to six years six months in prison for multiple drug counts from multiple cases.

— Jasin B. Gamble, 48, Rainbow Lane, East Liverpool, was placed under community control for two years after pleading guilty to improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle, a fourth-degree felony, and having physical control of a vehicle while under the influence, a misdemeanor. Charges of using weapons while intoxicated and having physical control of a vehicle while under the influence were dismissed. The charges stemmed from an incident on Sept. 19, 2019 when Gamble possessed a loaded firearm in a vehicle while under the influence.