YOUNGSTOWN Suspect out on bond is arrested

He will be held without bond pending a revocation hearing next week.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Wayne P. Gilliam, the aggravated murder suspect who was let out of jail on a $5,000 bond by Municipal Judge Robert A. Douglas Jr., now faces a drug charge.
Judge Robert Milich of municipal court set bond for the 19-year-old Castalia Avenue man at $100,000 this morning. The judge said that if Gilliam makes bond, he is not to leave the city, must live at an address approved by the probation department and must be on electronically monitored house arrest.
Gilliam faces a charge of complicity to aggravated trafficking in marijuana.
Gilliam's arrest triggered a strong reaction down the street from municipal court, at the county courthouse.
"We'll process the paperwork today and set a hearing to revoke or increase his murder bond," county Prosecutor Paul J. Gains said today. "He allegedly engaged in criminal activity while out on bond."
Assistant county prosecutor Terry Grenga said the state and Gilliam's lawyer have agreed that he will be held without bond pending a bond revocation hearing next week.
Controversy: Gilliam's low bond in the Jan. 14 shooting death of 18-year-old Anton Flint of Forest View Avenue stirred controversy -- from the victim's family to City Hall to block watch meetings to talk radio. It generated letters to The Vindicator.
Gilliam's murder case was bound over to a grand jury in late January, but the county prosecutor's office hasn't presented the evidence for indictment.
Arrest: Patrolman Michael Lambert, a member of the Youngstown Police Department vice squad, arrested Gilliam on Thursday evening on a warrant signed by City Prosecutor Dionne Almasy.
Lambert said he served the warrant when Gilliam, aware of the drug investigation, showed up at the vice squad to turn himself in.
The patrolman said undercover operatives bought drugs from Gilliam and James L. Mosley, 20, at a house on Mumford Drive.
Mosley remains at large, charged with trafficking in cocaine and marijuana.
After the drug buys, police used a search warrant to raid the Mumford house March 21 and confiscated guns, Lambert said. The weapons are being tested to determine if they were used in any criminal activity.
Homicide testimony: An eyewitness to the Flint homicide, Javon Prieto, 17, testified at a preliminary hearing in municipal court that shots were fired at him and Flint on the East Side from a car in which Gilliam was the only occupant.
Anita Flint, the victim's mother, said today that the murder charge should have kept Gilliam locked up. At least this new charge will get him off the streets, she said.
Debate: Judge Douglas and Anthony J. Farris, the judge's challenger in the May Democratic primary, both turned up at the Sheridan Block Watch meeting this month and engaged in an impromptu debate about Gilliam's low bond.
Farris said chills went up his spine when the judge described Gilliam to the group as "a fine young man from a fine family."
Judge Douglas has said he didn't know Gilliam before court and does not know the family. The comment about Gilliam, the judge said, was based on what he heard in court from the defense.
"This is what we talked about before -- the bond should have been higher or he should have been put on house arrest," said Detective Sgt. Ron Rodway, who investigated the Flint homicide. "Someone should have known his whereabouts."
One of Gilliam's lawyers, Scott R. Cochran, has said that the judge considered all pertinent factors, including that Gilliam turned himself in and has no criminal record.