Free after bat incident, Easton remains jailed, then rehab, judge says

YOUNGSTOWN

A man who pleaded guilty in December to hitting his friend in the head with a baseball bat while his friend was asleep was sentenced Wednesday to time served in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

But Michael Easton is still in prison on another matter.

Easton, 33, of South Heights Avenue, has served 104 days in the county jail on the felonious-assault charge.

But he is serving a two-year prison sentence handed down on three counts for failure to pay child support.

Judge Lou D’Apolito told Easton when he is done serving the prison sentence he must enter treatment for alcohol abuse.

Easton was arrested Oct. 20, 2017, in his home after he hit the man in the head while the man was sleeping on the couch.

Easton told the judge he was drunk at the time and had misinterpreted a text his friend had sent to his wife when he hit him with the bat.

Read more about the case in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.