MOST WANTED Treatment fugitive is captured

The woman has twice walked away from drug programs.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Darlene Shina was in custody within hours of being featured in The Vindicator as this week's U.S. Marshals task force most wanted fugitive.
Shina, 25, was found at 8:45 p.m. Monday hiding in a closet at a house in the 1500 block of Millicent Avenue in Liberty, said U.S. Deputy Marshal Dean Michael. He said tips were called in after her photo appeared in the newspaper that day.
Shina, picked up on an escape warrant, will remain in the Mahoning County jail pending a hearing in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. She is accused, for the second time, of walking away from a court-ordered drug treatment program.
Shina first made news in June 2002 when housing inspectors red-tagged a house she rented on Howard Avenue, where she had stayed with her two children. The inspectors were called after police described deplorable conditions, which included no electricity and an inoperable toilet that was still being used.
In a plea agreement in April 2003, Shina had two child-endangering charges dropped in municipal court, which left one count of animal cruelty. Her children went to live with their father.
In May 2003, Judge Robert A. Douglas Jr. sentenced Shina to 90 days in jail on the cruelty charge, the maximum, gave her credit for seven days served, and placed her on 18 months' probation. He also fined her $100.
Judge Douglas ordered that she be placed in a residential substance-abuse treatment program. The balance of the jail time was to be decided after the treatment program was completed.
Escape warrant
Shina walked away from the drug program and Judge Douglas issued an escape warrant. A Mahoning County grand jury indicted Shina on the escape charge last August.
Two months ago, she pleaded guilty to the escape charge in common pleas court. Judge Maureen A. Cronin ordered Shina to complete the in-house drug rehabilitation program at Community Corrections Association, a halfway facility on Market Street.
Richard J. Billak, CCA executive director, said Tuesday that Shina was given a urine test when she signed in and then left, after which an escape warrant was issued by Judge Cronin. Shina's test came back positive for cocaine, he said.
Shina would have been at CCA for four or five months, Billak said.
meade@vindy.com