Man jailed 1 day for wearing jeans to court

Staff Report

Photo

John Messer

YOUNGSTOWN — A judge ordered a man he jailed for wearing blue jeans to court released from jail the next day.

On Friday, Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court granted a defense motion to reinstate the $75,000 bond of John Messer, owner of the former Riverbend Tavern, and set him free to await court action on drug-trafficking charges linked to the tavern.

When Messer appeared Thursday wearing blue jeans, Judge Krichbaum ordered him to change into a red-and-white-striped jail uniform before a pretrial hearing and then jailed him until further notice at the end of the hearing.

In that hearing, Judge Krichbaum said he previously had warned Messer, 58, of Raccoon Road, to dress properly for court.

Messer was indicted on 17 counts of drug trafficking and one count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, all pertaining to events alleged to have occurred last year at the Poland Avenue tavern.

The drug-trafficking counts pertain to sales of cocaine and prescription pills (Vicodin and OxyContin).

The former bar has been boarded up since Nov. 5, when Youngstown Prosecutor Jay Macejko obtained from Judge Krichbaum an order closing the bar as a public nuisance.

In a Nov. 5 raid, police said they seized suspected illegal drugs and video-gambling machines at the bar.

Macejko said an undercover informant made 13 controlled purchases of suspected crack cocaine and prescription pills at the bar over four months.

Messer’s jury trial on the criminal charges is set for March 8, with a final pretrial hearing at 10 a.m. March 4.