Common Pleas

NEW CASES

Jason D. Rowland, Summit Street, Lisbon, vs. Kayla L. Rowland, Summit Street, Lisbon; divorce sought.

Daniel V. Hissom, Y & O Road, Wellsville, vs. Brittany Hissom, Smithfield Street, East Liverpool; divorce sought.

Loandepot.com, LLC, Plano, Texas, vs. Christopher Ingledue, Broadway Avenue, Wellsville, et al.; mortgage foreclosure sought for Columbiana County property.

DOCKET ENTRIES

Rocket Mortgage, LLC vs. unknown heirs, etc. of Richard A. Secrest, et al.; mortgage foreclosure ordered for Union Street, Columbiana property.

U.S. Bank Trust National Association vs. unknown administrator, etc. of the estate of Franklin R. Pigott, et al.; mortgage foreclosure ordered for Woodbine Avenue, East Liverpool property.

American Express National Bank vs, David Banfield; $18,274 judgment granted to plaintiff.

Capital One, N.A. vs. Taylor L. Headley; $4,189 judgment granted to plaintiff.

Olivia Jo Oiler vs. Cody Allen Oiler; divorce granted.

Zachary Martin vs. Yoselin Godinez-Lopez; divorce granted.

Court News

LISBON — A drug defendant who entered guilty pleas in two different cases for multiple drug charges was sentenced in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court to at least five years in prison.

Gene Brandon Wright, 42, Newell, W.Va., was sentenced to an indefinite sentence of two to three years in one case after pleading guilty to second-degree felony aggravated possession of drugs, third-degree felony illegal conveyance of drugs of abuse onto the grounds of a specified governmental facility and fifth-degree felonies of possession of cocaine and possession of a fentanyl-related compound. He also received a mandatory $7,500 fine. Wright possessed cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamine in an amount equal or greater than five times bulk but less than 50 times bulk and also attempted to take drugs onto the grounds of a detention facility on March 1, 2023.

For the other case, he received an indefinite sentence of three to four and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree felony aggravated possession of drugs and fifth-degree felony possession of cocaine. He received another mandatory fine of $7,500. Wright possessed cocaine and methamphetamine in an amount equal or greater than five times bulk but less than 50 times bulk on June 19, 2023.

The sentence of three to four and a half years was ordered served at the same time as a sentence Wright’s currently serving in West Virginia, along with six months he received for violating the terms of his probation for a 2019 case of receiving stolen property, a fifth-degree felony for an incident April 4, 2016.

The indefinite term of two to three years was ordered served consecutive or in addition to the three and four-and-a-half years, for a total of at least five years.

According to the West Virginia Department of Corrections website, he entered the West Virginia state prison system in September 2024, with a projected release date of October 2031.

Also in Common Pleas Court:

— Kip Bailey, 38, state Route 267, East Liverpool, was placed under community control for three years and ordered to serve 120 days in the county jail, with credit for 33 days served, leaving a balance of 87 days still to serve for two counts of menacing by stalking, a fourth-degree felony, and misdemeanor criminal child enticement. He was ordered to have no contact with the victims. He was accused of stalking two female juveniles in East Liverpool on July 2, 2024 by means of watching and hiding in bushes, creeping on his hands and knees while watching, and waiting and hiding from approaching vehicles. He also allegedly engaged in inappropriate and harmful talk to the juveniles, watching and continuously walking by the residence and peeling out in his vehicle, the affidavit said.

— Ciera N. Rowley, 37, was ordered to pay restitution of $7,901 to Pondi’s Restaurant in Lisbon after pleading guilty to grand theft, a fourth-degree felony, for stealing money from Sept. 20, 2023 to Feb. 2, 2025. She was placed on an intervention plan for three years for her sentence.

— Derek Calvin, 35, Canfield, pleaded guilty to trespass in a habitation, a fourth-degree felony lesser offense from the original second-degree felony of burglary, and misdemeanor criminal damaging for forcing entry into a home in Fairfield Township on March 4, 2025, damaging household items, ransacking the home and stealing some items, with his car stuck in the rear yard and left there. His sentenced is set for Aug. 20.

— Katrina R. Smith, 32, Newell, W.Va., will remain under community control after violating the terms of her probation for aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, but the terms will include participation in drug court. Smith possessed methamphetamine on June 16, 2024.

Municipal

LISBON – In Columbiana County Municipal Court, Nickolas P. Perez, 34, Newton Falls, was fined $300 and sentenced to 60 days in jail, with 58 days suspended and credit for one day served, leaving one day still to serve for disorderly conduct, criminal mischief and criminal trespass, with 25 hours community service ordered. He must make restitution of $2,700 to the victim. He punched another man in the face during a fight on April 2, 2025 in Lisbon. On Nov. 21, 2024 in Columbiana, he had entered a woman’s vehicle and ransacked it, with some property from inside the vehicle laying outside on the ground and a crossbow arrow broken.