Niles woman seeks early release from prison

WARREN — Heidi Powell, 34, of Niles, will appear in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Wednesday for a hearing that will determine whether she get an early release from prison for stealing $731 from the city of Niles.

Powell’s attorney, Kara Stanford, filed a request for Powell’s early release in November, and Judge W. Wyatt McKay ordered Sheriff Thomas Altiere to have Powell returned to the county jail last month so she would be available for the hearing.

She was being held at the Northeast Reintegration Center in Cleveland, a minimum-security and medium-security facility.

Judge McKay sentenced Powell, of West Park Avenue, former income-tax investigator with Niles, to six months in prison July 23, saying the prison term was because she had also been convicted of stealing $1,307 from her job at the AT&T store on Elm Road in Bazetta in April 2014 and placed on probation by Judge Ronald Rice of common pleas court.

For the complete story, read Wednesday's Vindicator and Vindy.com