WARREN A Liberty Township man, who earlier this month was found guilty by a Trumbull County jury of raping a 12-year-old girl, was given a 10-years-to-life prison sentence.
Theodore J. Fecko III, 41, of Ray Court, was sentenced by Common Pleas Judge Ronald J. Rice on Tuesday. The sentence is the only one he could get, the judge said, noting he would be eligible for parole after serving 10 years.
Fecko also is declared a Tier 3 sex offender, which means if he is paroled he will have to register his addresses with the sheriff’s office four times per year for the rest of his life.
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Staff photos / Guy Vogrin
Scott S. McCleery talks to his attorney, Mary Ellen Ditchey, prior to a Wednesday sentencing hearing in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.
WARREN A Niles man who received a split verdict last month from a Trumbull County jury was sentenced to an indefinite term of six- to seven-and-a-half years in prison.
Scott S. McCleery, 41, of Difford Drive, Niles, was convicted March 23 on charges of attempted rape, felonious assault and domestic violence. The jury acquitted him on charges of rape, a second count of felonious assault and disrupting public services.
At a hearing Wednesday, Common Pleas Judge Ronald J. Rice chose to merge the attempted rape and felonious assault convictions for the purposes of sentencing. The judge then made the domestic violence punishment part of a consecutive term.
WARREN A deadlocked Trumbull County jury could return only a conviction on one felony charge on Wednesday in the trial of a Liberty man accused of shooting his neighbor at a Hadley Avenue apartment complex last summer.
The jury foreman told Common Pleas Judge Ronald J. Rice jurors had reached a verdict on only one charge discharging a firearm into a habitation but could not come to a unanimous decision on the felonious assault charge against Daryl L. Casey, 27.
Jurors began deliberating late Tuesday afternoon and were sent home after 90 minutes. They returned Wednesday morning and discussed the case for two more hours before the verdicts were read. The foreman told the judge she didn’t think more time deliberating would break the deadlock on the felonious assault.
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Staff photo / Raymond L. Smith
Defendant Theodore Fecko III, 41, of Liberty, listens to opening statements Monday at his rape trial in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.
WARREN Speaking in hushed tones that were barely audible even with the use of a microphone, the 13-year-old victim of an alleged sexual assault told jurors Monday how a friend’s uncle inappropriately touched her.
The teen kept looking towards the floor and around the courtroom as she brought up memories of July 23, 2020, sitting upstairs in the man’s bedroom looking at social media videos and a television program.
The teen was the first witness in the rape trial of Theodore Fecko III, 41, of Liberty, who is accused of raping her while she was visiting his mother’s house.