Man convicted in trafficking case

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A jury Wednesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court took slightly more than 90 minutes to find a man guilty of charges he gave a female relative to a neighbor for sex in exchange for money for his drug habit.

David Kalna, 38, of Eleanor Avenue, was convicted of two counts of trafficking in persons and one count of compelling prostitution. Judge R. Scott Krichbaum will sentence him at 9 a.m. Friday.

Jurors heard closing arguments in the trial Tuesday afternoon and were instructed on the law by Judge Krichbaum before returning at 9 a.m. Wednesday to begin deliberations.

As Kalna was waiting for an elevator to taking him to a holding area for prisoners in the courthouse, he could be heard yelling, “I can’t believe it!” He was told by deputies to be quiet.

Testimony in the case began Monday after jury selection.

The victim testified when she was 15 until she was 16, Kalna would force her to go with a co-defendant in the case, Alex Ramirez, and that Ramierz raped her several times. She testified that Kalna would threaten Ramirez with telling the police what he was doing unless he gave him money.

Some of Kalna’s family testified on his behalf during the trial.