3 plead innocent in Fitch drug case

AUSTINTOWN -- Two more Austintown residents and a Canfield resident have pleaded innocent to charges resulting from an investigation into illegal drugs at Fitch High School.
Paul Groves, 20, of Innwood Drive, faces charges of trafficking in marijuana. His trial is set for July 18 in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
David Sletvold, 18, of East Rockwell Road, and Jeremy Cavender, 18, of 3601 Highmeadow Drive, Canfield, both face charges of trafficking in drugs. Their preliminary hearings will be June 7 in Mahoning County Juvenile Court. Both are Fitch students.
Groves, Sletvold and Cavender were arrested early last week as part of an Austintown police investigation that has led to a total of nine arrests.
Others charged: Preliminary hearings also will be June 7 in juvenile court for Andrew Butz, 16, of South Inglewood Avenue; Danny Bounds Jr., 17, of Abbot Avenue; Robert Swope, 18, of South Raccoon Road; Stuart Sanor, 17, of East Fifth Street, Beloit; and Joseph Vogt, 17, of Birch Trace Drive.
A ninth defendant, Matthew Caroline, 17, of Ohltown Road, is scheduled to have a pretrial hearing May 31 in juvenile court.
Caroline, Bounds, and Butz also are students at Fitch. Swope had been previously expelled from the school.
Each of the accused faces charges in connection with trafficking or possession of marijuana, Ecstasy, Ritalin or Vioxx.