Municipal

LISBON — In Columbiana County Municipal Court, a case against Jessy Paul Lee, 35, Chester, W.Va., was bound over to the county grand jury for felonious assault, abduction and grand theft auto for allegedly holding a woman against her will, punching her in the face multiple times then holding a knife to her throat while they were traveling in a vehicle in East Liverpool on Feb. 17.

During a preliminary hearing, Judge Tim McNicol found probable cause to send the case to the grand jury.

The affidavit said the victim was able to pull the vehicle over on West Fifth Street where she fled from the vehicle screaming for help. Prior to that, Lee had shown up at her residence and asked for a ride, and once in the vehicle told her to drive where he tells her to and not to do anything stupid. She claimed she needed gas and stopped at Sheetz in Calcutta and video surveillance showed him trying to stop her from going inside, then following her to the women’s bathroom, forcing her out a side door and walking her back to the vehicle, threatening her if she didn’t comply. After the assault when she fled, he drove off with her vehicle.

A case against Sean Zett, 40, Streetsboro, was bound over to the county grand jury for grand theft auto, a fourth-degree felony, for allegedly stealing a 2024 Ford Raptor under the ruse of identifying himself under a different name and taking the vehicle for a test drive and to his mechanic on Jan. 17 from Tri-State Ford in East Liverpool. He left the business and never returned the vehicle and stopped taking its phone calls. The affidavit also said he possessed a fraudulent Ohio BMV document under the other name.

David S. Lyon, 64 Bayard Road, Minerva, was fined $300 and sentenced to 90 days in jail, with 89 days suspended and credit for one day served, for assault. He was ordered to complete 20 hours community service and to stay away from the victim. He was accused of grabbing a man by the throat and physically assaulting him on Dec. 31, 2025 on Bayard Road, Minerva.

A domestic violence charge against Jeanie Marie Schreffler, 40, St. Clair Avenue, East Liverpool, was dismissed. According to a motion to dismiss filed by the state, the victim wasn’t cooperating. Schreffler was accused of pushing a man through a glass door on Sept. 16, 2025 in East Liverpool.

A status conference hearing was set June 15 and a jury trial was set June 25 for Martin Scott Heater, 43, Kings Court, Leetonia, charged with menacing by stalking for allegedly continuing to contact a woman after being told to leave her alone and being warned multiple times, along with sending her flowers, causing mental distress to her on Sept. 6, 2025 in East Palestine.

Fred H. Carlisle, 56, Eagleton Road, Lisbon, was fined $150 for disorderly conduct for using abusive language while at the Lisbon park on Sept. 9, 2025.

Joseph F. Helpy, 61, Garfield Avenue, East Palestine, was fined $150 for disorderly conduct amended from assault for an alleged incident in East Palestine on Sept. 15, 2025 when the victim took a fighting stance towards him, swung at him and missed and he struck the victim in the face, knocking him to the ground.

Kurt Robert Brown, 46, Alice Street, East Palestine, was fined $150 for disorderly conduct, with a second count of disorderly conduct dismissed. He was found not guilty on a charge of criminal damaging, with a motion for acquittal granted. The disorderly conduct charges stemmed from an incident Sept. 20, 2025 in East Palestine involving a fight. For the criminal damaging charge, he was accused of throwing a rock at a vehicle on July 24, 2025 in East Palestine.

Thomas R. Neapolitan, 39, Charlotte, N.C., was fined $750 and given a suspended 90-day jail term for engaging in prostitution and possessing criminal tools. He was ordered to complete 20 hours community service and already completed an education course. He was accused of responding to an undercover ad on a known escort website and requesting sexual activity from a woman in exchange for $40 and advising he would bring methamphetamine, arriving in East Palestine on April 4, 2022 for the meeting with the phone used to make the arrangements in his possession, along with some alleged methamphetamine.

Stacy Ray Mayne, 55, Sandy Lake, Pa., was fined $750 and given a suspended 90-day jail term for two counts of possessing criminal tools, with one amended from engaging in prostitution. Mayne was ordered to complete 40 hours community service and already completed a prostitution prevention course. Mayne was accused of responding to an undercover ad on a known prostitution website and arranging for sexual activity with a woman in exchange for money, then driving to East Palestine on June 6, 2025 for the meeting, with the phone used to make the arrangements in his possession.

Marlane Polojac, 23, Minerva Street, East Liverpool, was fined $350 and sentenced to 90 days in jail, with 74 days suspended and credit for 16 days served, for possession of drug abuse instrument and criminal trespass. She was ordered to complete 40 hours community service and to stay away from an Avondale property in East Liverpool. She trespassed in a condemned residence on Avondale on Jan. 27, 2025 in East Liverpool and possessed several used syringes in East Liverpool on Sept. 16, 2025.

Ruthann M. Rose, 42, Seigler Road, Salineville, was fined $450 for driving under suspension and two counts of disorderly conduct, with one amended from failure to comply. Charges of obstructing official business and loud exhaust were dismissed. On Oct. 2, 2025, she was accused of abruptly exiting her vehicle during a traffic stop and causing alarm to the Salineville police officer, then refusing to listen to commands and being disorderly.

Kevin S. Frazier, 44, Michigan Avenue, East Liverpool, was fined $550 for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and criminal damaging for taking a woman’s vehicle without permission on Jan. 30, 2025 in East Liverpool and wrecking it.

Gary F. McCabe Jr., 52, Steubenville Pike Road, Lisbon, was fined $200 and given a suspended 30-day jail term for menacing amended from telecommunications harassment. He was ordered to complete 20 hours community service and to stay away from the victim. On June 28, 2025 in Salineville, he was accused of calling a woman five times and texting her 23 times after being told to stop.

Brandi J. Glover, 39, East Liverpool Road, Lisbon, was fined $450 and given a suspended 90-day jail term for assault and criminal mischief. She was ordered to complete 20 hours community service and have no contact with the victims. On Dec. 12, 2025, she was accused of punching another woman in the face in Salineville. In January, 2026, she was accused of spray painting the words “cheater,” “liar,” and “cheat” on the walls of man’s house in Salineville.

Makayla D. Brown, 22, state Route 45, Lisbon, was fined $350 and given a suspended 90-day jail term for theft. She was ordered to complete 60 hours community service and to have no contact with the Salem Walmart. Brown was accused of failing to scan and pay for 26 items totaling $179 at the Salem Walmart on Nov. 20, 2025.

Jay A. Ranalli, 21, state Route 45, Lisbon, was fined $350 and given a suspended 90-day jail term for theft. He was ordered to complete 60 hours community service and to have no contact with the Salem Walmart. Ranalli was accused of bagging 26 items not scanned or paid for valued at $179 at Salem Walmart on Nov. 20, 2025.

Natalie N. Berg, 27, East Main Street, East Palestine, was fined $1,165 and sentenced to 180 days in jail, with 177 days suspended, for operating a vehicle impaired and reasonable control. With completion of a driver intervention program, she will receive credit for three days served and $500 of her fine will be suspended. Her driver’s license was suspended for one year and she was ordered to complete 20 hours community service.

Melissa Lynn Mills, 42, Warren, was fined $875 and sentenced to 180 days in jail, with 170 days suspended, leaving 10 days to serve in jail, along with 36 days of electronically monitored house arrest, for OVI second offense. Her driver’s license was suspended for two years and she was ordered to complete 20 hours community service.

Tamra Jo Bing, 43, East High Street, Lisbon, was fined $1,115 and sentenced to 180 days in jail, with 174 days suspended, leaving three days to serve in jail and three days to serve in a driver intervention program, for OVI and a turn signal violation. Her driver’s license was suspended for one year and she was ordered to complete 40 hours community service. She was also ordered to complete 35 days of electronically monitored house arrest and wear an alcohol ankle monitor known as SCRAM.

James A. Utt, 39, Summit Street, Salem, was fined $925 and sentenced to 90 days in jail, with 87 days suspended and credit for three days served in a driver intervention program, for OVI and speeding. His driver’s license was suspended for one year, with driving privileges granted. He was ordered to complete 20 hours community service.

A pretrial was set April 28 for Ryan S. Romigh, 31, Tower Road, Salem, charged with driving under suspension.

Hayden Oliver, 19, Ninth Street, Wellsville, was fined $350 and given a suspended 30-day jail term for reckless operation amended from failure to stop after an accident and reasonable control. He was ordered to complete 40 hours community service and to take a remedial driving course.

Randy C. Nussbaum, 38, East Clark Street, East Palestine, was fined $75 for no license amended from driving under suspension.

Ismael Ixcoy Ajanel, 20, East Fourth Street, Salem, was fined $100 for driving under suspension.

A pretrial was set May 12 for Robert L. Hays, 36, North Lincoln Avenue, Salem, charged with telecommunications harassment for allegedly calling the Salem police dispatch on March 13 regarding a custody dispute and yelling profanities. An affidavit said he called Salem police dispatch multiple times in the past using abusive language and yelling at dispatchers.

Kayla M. Grubb, 27, state Route 14, East Palestine, was fined $150 and sentenced to 30 days in jail, with 29 days suspended and credit for one day served, for disorderly conduct amended from domestic violence. She was ordered to complete 20 hours community service. She hit another woman and grabbed her by the hair during a domestic on Sept. 17, 2025 in Unity Township.

A pretrial was set May 26 for Christy S. Keglor, 51, Lake Milton, charged with theft, possessing criminal tools and criminal trespass for allegedly trespassing at the Calcutta Walmart on Dec. 4, 2014 and concealing items in her backpack, using a razor knife to cut through the plastic on boxes of cologne and leaving. She was fined $150 for no license and failure to control.

A pretrial was set June 2 for Mya Nicole Perry, 22, Youngstown, charged with possessing criminal tools. A charge of soliciting was dismissed due to failure to notarize the affidavit in the case. Perry had been accused of allegedly offering sex for hire and using her phone to make the arrangements on March 13 in East Palestine.

A probation violation hearing was set March 30 for Paul Mason Smith, 31, Beaver Falls, Pa., for a 2025 case of endangering children and obstructing official business and a 2024 traffic case.

Lucas Lee Gravley, 46, High Street, Washingtonville, was fined $350 for theft for stealing $228 worth of merchandise from the Salem Walmart on Sept. 8, 2025.

A pretrial was set June 1 for Christopher Henderson, 39, Grant Street, Lisbon, charged with obstructing official business for allegedly providing a deputy with a false name during a call for one to be removed on March 15 in Center Township, with the deputy learning Henderson had an active warrant out of Alabama for failure to register as a sex offender, an affidavit said.

A pretrial was set May 13 for Maria Greier, 33, Whitacre Road, Salem, charged with failure to file tax return for allegedly failing to file a state sales tax return from September 2005 through January 2026 for Mindful Aesthetics & Wellness LLC in Salem.

A pretrial was set June 1 for Seth P. Talbott, 31, Harding Avenue, East Liverpool, charged with obstructing official business, operating a vehicle impaired second offense, OVI refusal with prior offense in 20 years and traffic control devices. During a traffic stop on March 14 in East Liverpool, Talbott refused to exit the vehicle after being asked several times by a state trooper.

A pretrial was set April 20 for Scott A. Cooper, 41, West North Avenue, East Palestine, charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and two counts of driving under suspension. He allegedly possessed a small baggy with an off-white crystal-like substance during a traffic stop on March 16

A motions hearing was set April 22 for Christopher M. Wheeler, 51, Allison Street, East Liverpool, charged with operating a vehicle impaired first offense and a tail light violation.

Bruce M. Behner III, 45, West South Range Road, Salem, was fined $1,050 and sentenced to 180 days in jail, with 174 days suspended, leaving a balance of six days still to serve for OVI second offense and driving under suspension. His driver’s license was suspended for two years and he was ordered to complete 60 hours community service. Another OVI charge was dismissed.

A pretrial was set May 19 for Jessie Frank Hubbard, 44, Midland, Pa., charged with OVI second offense, OVI breath second offense, no license and open container.

A pretrial was set May 6 for Bruce A. Whittaker, 67, Newell, W.Va., charged with OVI first offense, OVI breath and traffic control devices.

A pretrial was set May 19 for Marcus A. Bowersock, 36, Echo Dell Road, East Liverpool, charged with physical control and driving under suspension.

A pretrial was set May 19 for Dustin Cody Carson, 26, Pittsburgh, Pa., charged with speeding.

A pretrial was set June 15 for Mark A. Dragoo, 50, Aliquippa, Pa., charged with speeding.

A pretrial was set May 27 for Jessica L. McCloskey, 32, Youngstown, charged with driving under suspension and speeding.

A pretrial was set May 6 for Jeffrey L. Zalick, 67, Macklin Road, New Waterford, charged with driving under suspension.

A pretrial was set May 20 for Charles Patrick McLaughlin, 29, Newell, W.Va., charged with two counts of driving under suspension.

Marcus Z. Reed, 23, Nittany Drive, Summitville, was fined $200 for open container, unauthorized plate and driving under suspension. Charges of loud exhaust, reckless operation and unsafe vehicle were dismissed.

Nathan C. Evan, 26, Youngstown, was fined $150 and received credit for one day served in jail for lighted lights amended from street racing.

Charles Nicholas Gough, 27, Echo Dell Road, East Liverpool, was fined $150 for no license and expired tag.

Robert N. Monske, 86, South Lincoln Avenue, Salem, was fined $200 for a stopped school bus violation.

Andrei Daniel Cimponeriu, 25, Saybrook Boulevard, Columbiana, was fined $150 for lighted lights amended from street racing.

Charlene McLaughlin, 29, Newell, W.Va., was fined $50 for speeding.

John Roger Datson, 39, state Route 7, Rogers, was fined $300 for two counts of driving under suspension.

Court News

LISBON — A man convicted for having a loaded firearm in a vehicle in 2022 was sentenced to 10 months in prison for violating the terms of his probation.

Glen K. Gabriel, 32, Youngstown, appeared in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court on Monday for a probation revocation hearing. Charges against him included improperly handling firearm in a motor vehicle, a fourth-degree felony, fifth-degree felony trafficking in marijuana with a specification for forfeiture of money from a drug case and misdemeanor drug paraphernalia.

The prison term was ordered served at the same time as any prison term he receives in Trumbull County.

Gabriel possessed a loaded firearm in a vehicle on March 16, 2022, along with $1,122, marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

Also in Common Pleas Court:

— Robert G. Mack, 46, Steubenville, was sentenced to 20 days in jail, with credit for one day served, leaving a balance of 19 days still to serve in jail for violating the terms of his probation for aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony. His intervention plan was dishonorably terminated. Mack possessed methamphetamine on May 22, 2024.

— Katrina T. Clarke, 33, Moore Road, East Liverpool, was placed on a treatment plan for three years after pleading guilty to aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, and misdemeanor drug paraphernalia for possessing methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia on Aug. 23, 2023.

— Tristan A. Apinis, 40, Cleveland Street, Salem, pleaded guilty to aggravated possession of drugs, a third-degree felony lesser-included offense, with a specification for forfeiture of money from a drug case, with sentencing set for April 24. A charge of aggravated trafficking in drugs will be dismissed. Apinis possessed methamphetamine in an amount equal or greater than bulk but less than five times bulk on July 8, 2024.

— Jamie L. Gump, 41, Thompson Avenue, East Liverpool, was ordered to serve time at the Eastern Ohio Correction Center until the program is complete and will remain on community control after violating the terms of a treatment plan for theft from a person in a protected class and telecommunications fraud, both fourth-degree felonies. The theft occurred from Oct. 1, 2021 to Dec. 22, 2021.