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Niles man faces up to 66 months in prison after pleading guilty to felony drug charges

By Staff report

January 22, 2024 9:55 AM

The Trumbull County TAG anti-drug task force and the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office combined to successfully prosecute a case against 32-year-old Saul Vaughn of Niles.

Vaughn pleaded guilty Jan. 16 before Judge Andrew D. Logan of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to six felony charges, include two counts of trafficking in cocaine, a third-degree possession of a fentanyl-related compound, a fourth-degree possession of a fentanyl-related compound, a fifth-degree possession of cocaine charge and a having weapons while under disability charge. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dropped three additional felony counts.

When will Saul Vaughn be sentenced?

Vaughn, who could face as much as 66 months in a state prison, will be sentenced after undergoing a background check with the Trumbull County Probation Department.

Prosecutors said the drug investigation occurred in late December 2022 when a confidential informant with TAC was sold .36 grams and .34 grams of cocaine and then a search of Vaughn’s apartment on Dec. 1, 20222 netted over 4 more grams of cocaine and two parcels of fentanyl-related compound that also contained over 1 gram of the substance. Also seized by TAG deputies were $276 in cash and a handgun, that will be forfeited by the defendant upon sentencing. Court records show that Vaughn was prohibited from carrying a firearm because of two previous drug-related convictions in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court in 2015 and 2017.

Warren woman pleads guilty to two misdemeanor counts of assault

In another case before Judge Logan on Tuesday, Anita Lach, 63, of Ridge Avenue SE, Warren, pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of assault. Lach had previously pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but the plea was withdrawn after a report came back from a local forensic center which stated the defendant was mentally competent.

The case involved a call answered by Howland police on March 18, 2023, to a disturbance at the Ridge Avenue address. A neighbor stated, a woman, identified as Lach, came to his house and asked to use his vehicle. When the neighbor told the woman no, the woman threatened “to burn his house to the ground” and that “he was never going to see his kids again.”

In the report, Lach allegedly advised police officers she had barricaded herself in her home and that she stopped taking her medication because she was healed. When Ems were called, the woman became aggressive throwing a black floor lamb at officers, striking one in a leg. She also threw a book and a water bottle filled with grape juice at officers and paramedics. The filled bottle struck an officer in the chest, the report stated. No injuries.