Court News

LISBON — An East Liverpool man accused of assaulting a woman and possessing a gun when he was prohibited from having one due to a previous conviction was sentenced to 36 months in prison.

John D. Lanam, 45, Anderson Boulevard, East Liverpool, appeared recently in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court where he pleaded guilty to third-degree felonies of tampering with evidence and having weapons while under disability and misdemeanor domestic violence. A fourth-degree felony strangulation charge was dismissed.

The sentence was immediate, with all the terms concurrent for a total of 36 months. The terms were also ordered concurrent or to be served at the same time as the 30-month sentence he received in November for two drug cases.

Lanam was accused of striking a woman with a closed fist, throwing her down and using his forearm to place around her throat to choke her after an argument on Oct. 10, 2025 in Liverpool Township. The victim also alleged that after the assault, he grabbed a rifle, but never pointed it at her. He was prohibited from having a firearm due to previous convictions.

Also in Common Pleas Court:

— William R. Payton, 21, Bouquet Street, Negley, pleaded guilty to charges from two separate indictments, including fifth-degree felony assault, two counts of fourth-degree felony assault and misdemeanors of disorderly conduct amended from domestic violence and resisting arrest. Sentencing was set for Aug. 27. One incident occurred March 25 in East Liverpool when Payton was being taken into custody for domestic violence and started pulling away from officers and was tased twice, then continued resisting officers, charging at an officer and also kicking an officer in the stomach. He also struck a corrections officer in the face multiple times while he was an inmate at the county jail in Lisbon on April 2.

— Justin R. Barrett, 41, whose last known address was listed as Sophia Street, East Liverpool, which was boarded up by the city as a nuisance property, entered guilty pleas in three different cases for various felonies, including one involving a pipe bomb found during the execution of a search warrant by the Columbiana County Drug Task Force at the Sophia Street, East Liverpool property on Feb. 12, 2025. Barrett pleaded guilty to third-degree felonies of two counts of having weapons while under disability and illegal conveyance of drugs of abuse onto the grounds of a specified governmental facility and fifth-degree felonies of unlawful possession of a dangerous ordnance, possessing criminal tools and aggravated possession of drugs. According to the indictment in the pipe bomb case from 2025, Barrett possessed the explosive device and was prohibited from having any weapons due to a previous drug conviction. On April 22, 2025 through April 24, 2025, he attempted to take drugs to the county jail and had a cell phone that was used criminally. Two counts of complicity in the commission of an offense were dismissed. He was accused of conspiring with others and aiding them to take drugs into the county jail. On Nov. 12, 2025, he possessed methamphetamine. A charge of trafficking drugs was dismissed. Sentencing for all three cases was set for Aug. 27.

— Jason M. Holloway, 45, Vine Street, East Liverpool, pleaded guilty to aggravated possession of drugs, a third-degree felony, with sentencing set for Aug. 28, for possessing methamphetamine on Feb. 21, 2025.