COLUMBIANA CO. Sentence of ex-official suspended

The one-time court official will be required to cooperate in a related probe.
LISBON -- The jail sentence of a former probation officer has been suspended in Columbiana County Juvenile Court after she pleaded guilty to child endangering.
Visiting Judge David Stucki sentenced Nicole Amato, 30, of East Liverpool, to 30 days in jail but suspended that and all but $100 of a $500 fine.
The maximum sentence for child endangering, a first-degree misdemeanor, is six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Amato, who had been drinking, mishandled a handgun in a parked vehicle Nov. 10. The gun went off, missing Amato's 2-year-old daughter.
Amato resigned her job as an East Liverpool Municipal Court probation officer weeks later, a court official said.
Amato no longer has custody of her child, a court official said.
As part of her sentence, Amato also was ordered to cooperate with authorities in an ongoing probe involving East Liverpool Patrolman Martin Ward, who was with her in the vehicle when the gun went off.
Ward has told authorities the firearm was his private gun, not his police-issued firearm, and that he was off duty at the time.
Ward was recently indicted by a county grand jury on charges of tampering with evidence, obstructing justice and criminal mischief.
The tampering and obstructing charges are based on authorities' allegations that Ward threw away the bullet and casing in the Amato episode.
He also is accused of urging others to make false statements in the investigation.
Ward is suspended without pay while his case is pending.