COLUMBIANA COUNTY 3 adults get jail time in death of teen who was driving drunk

The man who provided alcohol to the teens apologized.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- Three adults will serve jail sentences ranging from 60 days to one year in the drunken-driving death of a teen who was given alcohol at a party.
The adults were sentenced Friday by Judge C. Ashley Pike of Columbiana County Common Pleas Court.
They were charged with involuntary manslaughter in the March 1, 2002, death of Lisa Groner, 16, of Leetonia.
But plea agreements resulted in conviction on that charge for only one of them, Joseph McCallister, 22, of Salem Township.
Judge Pike sentenced McCallister to a year in prison.
McCallister was convicted of throwing a party at the home of his sister, Wanita Bolton, 30, and her husband, Travis Bolton, 31, now of Hanoverton. They lived on Teegarden Road in Salem Township when the party occurred.
During the event, Groner and four other underage drinkers were provided alcohol by McCallister.
Lisa was killed when she crashed her vehicle after leaving the party. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.14. The legal driving limit at the time was 0.10.
In a statement before being sentenced, McCallister expressed sorrow for his actions and for Lisa's death.
"Sometimes I hate myself for what happened," McCallister said.
But Judge Pike noted that McCallister admitted to providing alcohol to underage drinkers in previous instances.
"You've been slow to accept responsibility," Judge Pike added.
Victim's family
Before McCallister's sentencing, Lisa's mother, Cindy, and Lisa's sister, Debbie, spoke of the heartache still felt by the family over losing Lisa.
"There is a large hole in our hearts," Cindy Groner said.
Involuntary manslaughter is a third-degree felony bearing a maximum five-year prison sentence.
Assistant Prosecutor Tammie Riley Jones recommended a one-year sentence in exchange for McCallister's guilty pleas to the felony and to five first-degree misdemeanor counts of furnishing alcohol to minors.
Besides the one-year sentence for the felony, Judge Pike sentenced McCallister to the maximum of six months for each of the misdemeanors. McCallister will serve those sentences at the same time as his one-year sentence.
The Boltons avoided prosecution on the involuntary manslaughter charge by agreeing to aid in McCallister's prosecution and by pleading guilty to five misdemeanor counts of allowing underage drinking at their home.
Riley Jones recommended that they each receive maximum six-month terms for the misdemeanors.
But Judge Pike sentenced them each to 60 days in jail.