Niles man convicted of killing man and wounding friend in 2014

Staff report

WARREN

Michael B. Settle, 27, will be sentenced in October after a jury found him guilty of killing James Levels and wounding Lisa Prater in 2014.

The jury returned its verdict about 5:30 p.m. Friday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court, finding him guilty of aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, felonious assault, aggravated robbery and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The jurors found him not guilty of tampering with evidence. They deliberated about four hours.

He will be sentenced at 11 a.m. Oct. 5.

Prater said after the verdict she was pleased that she was able to testify so that Levels, her friend of 20 years, could have justice. “There was concern,” she said of waiting to learn the verdict. “With no physical evidence, it was scary.”

The key evidence in the trial came from three men who testified they were part of the plot to steal money and drugs from Prater’s home on South Street Southeast at 11:26 p.m. April 7.

They all testified that Settle, of Sherman Street in Niles, and Tyler Meardith, 24, of Warren, entered the house together and that Settle had a gun. Three other men remained in the car outside, two of whom were charged and testified in the trial.

Prater, 49, testified the two men who kicked open her front door and entered were wearing masks, and one was holding a gun.

Levels, 64, of Beal Street Northwest, had been visiting Prater for a few hours and was sitting in a chair in Prater’s bedroom when the men entered, Prater said.

Levels was shot three times while walking toward the gunman then fell, mortally wounded, to the floor, Prater testified.

The man who didn’t have a gun ran out of the house, while the gunman walked out of the room momentarily, then returned and shot Prater in the chest and leg.

Settle’s co-defendants all pleaded guilty to various offenses and agreed to prison sentences ranging from seven to 18 years in prison. They are Beau Palmer, 31, and James Stein, 30, both of Warren.

Settle faces a likely prison sentence of life without parole, but Judge Peter Kontos will ask the county’s Adult Probation Department to review Settle’s background and record before the sentencing hearing.