Friday, October 25, 2002
Cars burglarized
CANFIELD -- Items were stolen sometime Thursday from unlocked cars at two homes in the 4100 block of Burgett Lane, according to the Mahoning County Sheriff's Department.
A CD player and assortment of CDs were stolen from a 1991 Plymouth Shadow, reports show. A car stereo, college textbooks, Youngstown State University parking pass and pager were taken from a 1997 Chevrolet Cavalier, the sheriff's department said.
More time for Saadey
YOUNGSTOWN -- Russell J. Saadey, already serving 55 months in federal prison for case-fixing in Mahoning County, had 18 months added to his time Thursday by U.S. District Judge Peter C. Economus. The 18 months will run consecutively.
Saadey, 47, pleaded guilty Sept. 20 to being a felon in possession of a firearm. A grand jury had indicted Saadey on June 18. The gun charge followed a fight April 21 between Saadey and his wife, Joy, at their Austintown home.
During the fight, Saadey grabbed a .38-caliber revolver and had to be restrained by other family members. A domestic violence charge was eventually dismissed after his wife told a county judge she would not testify. The gun episode happened two days after Saadey received his 55-month sentence.
Man faints in court
YOUNGSTOWN -- When a judge in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court threatened to throw him behind bars, Larry Davis took a fall.
Emergency medical workers were called to Judge R. Scott Krichbaum's court Thursday morning after the 43-year-old Hanoverton man fainted, court personnel said.
Davis was found guilty in August of marijuana possession and trafficking in Goshen Township. He was to be sentenced Thursday, with the state recommending probation.
District, driver sued
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 14-year-old boy who says he was hit by a city school bus as he rode his bicycle is suing the Youngstown School District and bus driver Ernest Hawkins.
According to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, Montrell Sims was riding his bike at North Pearl and Oak Street around 7:23 p.m. Oct. 23, 2000, when he was struck by the front tire of a school district bus.
The driver was speeding and had made an illegal left turn onto Oak Street into the opposite lane of travel when the vehicle hit the boy, the lawsuit says.
The boy suffered head injuries, a concussion and injuries to his back, shoulder, pelvis and abdomen, the suit says.
Sentenced to prisonfor part in drug ring
YOUNGSTOWN -- An Austintown construction worker was sentenced Thursday by Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge Jack Durkin to a year in prison for his part in operating a Mahoning Valley cocaine network.
Mark DiGiacomo, 39, of New Road, pleaded guilty in August to one count of cocaine trafficking.
DiGiacomo was one of seven men indicted last year for operating what authorities said was a major drug network over the past decade, mostly on Youngstown's West Side and in the suburbs.
Assistant Prosecutor Terry Grenga said she will not object to his being released on shock probation after serving at least 30 days.
Judge Durkin ordered that DiGiacomo begin the sentence Jan. 3 after the defendant and his attorney Mark S. Colucci asked that he be given time to finish construction jobs. The judge also gave DiGiacomo a Jan. 3 deadline to repay the cost of his prosecution and the cost of a court-appointed attorney who represented him until Colucci stepped in Thursday.
Promises for Pets
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Promises for Pets, a nonprofit, no-kill humane association serving Lawrence County, is having a meeting for all those interested in volunteering.
The meeting will be from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the New Castle Public Library, upstairs conference room.
Promises for Pets is an all-volunteer organization dedicated to decreasing the number of homeless, abused and neglected animals.
Call (724) 657-5130 for more information.