TRUMBULL COUNTY Man pleads guilty to evidence tampering

Moments after the plea the judge sentenced the man to three years in prison.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A Vernon Township man has pleaded guilty to a charge of tampering with evidence in the murder of a 26-year-old Greenville, Pa., man.
Bruce Coxson, 46, entered the plea Monday in the courtroom of Judge Peter Kontos of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.
Moments after the plea was made, Coxson was sentenced to three years in prison. Judge Kontos ordered that Coxson be taken to the Lorain Correctional Institution as soon as possible to begin his sentence.
Chris Becker, an assistant Trumbull County prosecutor, said Coxson could have received up to five years in prison.
This is the second time Coxson pleaded guilty to the charge. He entered a guilty plea in February but withdrew it a month later, moments before he was scheduled to be sentenced.
Officials say Coxson hid the handgun that police think was used in the murder of Charles Palm of Greenville.
The gun was in a pile of sawdust in a wooded area off state Route 7, prosecutors said.
Facing murder charge
A co-defendant in the case, Craig R. Kroner, 22, of Warner Road faces a charge of aggravated murder. Authorities accuse Kroner of killing Palm.
Palm's body was found Oct. 10 in the Shenango Wildlife area of Vernon Township.
Kroner, who has pleaded innocent, also is in the county jail. He also faces a charge of tampering with evidence.
Investigators with the Ohio State Highway Patrol searched Kroner's home and another house on Milligan East Road in Vernon Township in October. The patrol investigates criminal activity on state-owned or leased property. The warrant has been sealed, so what was found at the homes has not been revealed, court officials said.
A trial date for Kroner's case has not been set.
sinkovich@vindy.com