PAROLE HEARING UPDATE: Aug. 4, 2025
Rapist, 77, of children ages 5 and 6 up for parole
CASE FILE: Paul Czoka
Age: 77
INCARCERATED: Pickaway Correctional Institution
PAROLE HEARING: August 2025 (last previous hearing in 2021)
SENTENCED: On July 24, 1992, Czoka was sentenced by former Trumbull County Judge Mitchell F. Shaker to a term of 14 to 55 years in prison on two counts of rape and two counts of pandering obscenity involving minors.
THE CRIMES: Czoka’s victims were 5 and 6 years old at the time, children of an ex-girlfriend. The obscenity charges involved Czoka taking videos and pictures of sexual acts with the young victims. Reports stated Czoka drove along Robbins Avenue in Niles, calling young girls to his car and enticed them with toys and candy.
Because of his relatively good prison record, Prosecuting Attorney Dennis Watkins warns that looks may be deceiving. Watkins many prisoners learn to play the game to get released on parole, in other words, it’s a “learned remorse syndrome.” Good behavior in prison does not necessarily equate with good behavior outside prison confinements. Pedophiles like Czoka has not access to any young children while in prison, Watkins writes.
“Evidence as far back as 1971 establishes that Czoka is a picture-ugly lifetime sexual predator. If he serves his full sentence (2047), Czoka will be 99 years old and provides society more years not worrying about what he is doing!” - Dennis Watkins, Trumbull County prosecuting attorney
Members of the public may submit comments about the potential parole of Paul Czoka. Comments can be made through the ODRC website: https://drc.ohio.gov/systems-and-services/1-parole/parole-board-hearing-input
For more information, contact Guy M. Vogrin, public information officer/investigator for the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office at 330-675-2485.
PAROLE HEARING UPDATE: July 31, 2025
CASE FILE: Pompie Junior Wade
Age: 72
INCARCERATED: Marion Correctional Institution
PAROLE HEARING: August 2025 (previous 2015, 2005, 1995)
SENTENCED: In 1978, Wade was sentenced to a 20-year to life sentence after the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled Ohio’s death penalty law unconstitutional. Wade was previously sentenced on April 30, 1976, to death by former Judge Sydney Rigelhaupt for the Dec. 29, 1975 murder of Dominic Chiarella, 51, and the attempted murder of Fred G. Piersol, 23, during an armed robbery at the Austin Village Beverage Center in Warren. Wade at the time of the fatal shooting was on parole for a manslaughter conviction in the 1972 death of William A. Jackson.
NEW LETTER: Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins, as an assistant prosecutor to elected Prosecutor J. Walter Dragelevich, was part of the trial team that tried Pompie Wade in 1976. Since that time, Watkins has written the Ohio parole board in 1989, 1995, 2005, 2015 and today, July 31, 2025, five times strongly opposing inmate Wade’s release. His latest letter attaches all prior letters along with the Chiarella family letter, the Vindicator editorial, and other local officials’ views, including Councilman Michael O’Brien and Mayor William “Doug” Franklin.
THE CRIME: On December 29, 1975, Wade decided to rob a beverage center on the west side of Warren. Dominic Chiarella and Fred Piersol were working that fateful day. Wade had a .32 revolver and stole money from the establishment. Even though he had the cash in hand, Wade ordered the victims to go to the back of the store into the cooler which was used for beverages. Wade did this even though he could have walked out the front door with his weapon and his friend and money in hand. The two victims stood in the cold, in the cooler, and then Wade walked in, stared at them, and then in cold blood, shot both men in the chest several times with pattern shots near the heart.
Dominic Chiarella died almost instantaneously. It was a premeditated and gratuitous execution. Chiarella left a wife and children. By the grace of God, Fred Piersol survived.
As he left the store, Wade did some shopping, and one of the things Wade grabbed was a bag of potato chips. He munched on the chips as the robbers fled in the getaway car. The empty bag and crumbs managed to make its way into evidence for Wade’s trial.
A jury found Wade guilty on all counts, and he was sentenced to death. However, Wade avoided execution when Ohio’s death penalty was ruled unconstitutional in 1978.
A newspaper editorial by the Youngstown Vindicator on Aug. 3, 2025, titled “Twice-convicted killer should not get third chance”, commenting on an upcoming Ohio Parole Board hearing considering Wade’s possible release on parole, stated: “How many breaks should a cold-blooded murder get?”
One of Chiarella’s sons, Dr. David Chiarella, echoed that sentiment in his letter to the parole board opposing any parole for Wade. The Vindicator editorial noted that Wade has received two big breaks. The second one was escaping the electric chair because of the Supreme Court decision. The first, however, was receiving parole after killing a man in a bar in Warren a few years before the Austin Village robbery. Wade was still on parole when he killed Dominic Chiarella and wounded Frederick Piersol.
The editorial stated: “Those two breaks, along with the facts of the case, give the Parole Board every reason to reject Wade’s latest attempt to be released from (prison).”
Meanwhile, two Warren city elected officials who remember the murder cases also wrote the parole board opposing Wade’s possible parole. Both Mayor William D. Franklin and Councilman Michael O’Brien stated Wade action deprived the community of one great human being, Dominic Chiarella.
“Wade’s more than just sentence must be fully served, and a safe public always is insured with incapacitation by incarceration.” - Dennis Watkins, Trumbull County prosecuting attorney
Members of the public may submit comments about the potential parole of Pompie Wade. Comments can be made through the ODRC website: https://drc.ohio.gov/systems-and-services/1-parole/parole-board-hearing-input
For more information, contact Guy M. Vogrin, public information officer/investigator for the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office at 330-675-2485.
Parole Hearing Update: August 4, 2025
Case file: Charles Perry
Age: 49 (date of birth 02/10/1976)
Incarcerated: Allen Correctional Institution
Parole hearing: August 2025 (first hearing)
Sentenced: Life sentence with parole eligibility after 20 years, consecutive to a three-year gun specification and also consecutive to an indefinite sentence of 10 to 25 years.
The crime: Charles Perry was convicted of the 1995 aggravated murder of Sheri Reed and the attempted aggravated murder of Pete Morello over $20 rock of crack cocaine. Just one month after being released on bond for a burglary charge, Perry and Reed were arguing over a crack rock that Perry claimed to have given to Reed but she refused to pay for it. After a short time, Perry pulled out a revolver and emptied it from point black range into Morello’s vehicle. One of the projectiles pierced Reed’s heart, while the fiancé Morello was struck several times in the arm, thigh, stomach and chest.
After a nine-day trial, Perry was found guilty of all counts and specifications.
Perry’s criminal record began at the age of 13 and has continued while incarcerated with his prison infraction report showing him punching another inmate in 2024 while in 2016, he was found to have “squared up” with a correction’s officer after assaulting another inmate. In 2008, he was found guilty of another assault while in prison.
“Quite simply, Perry has anger issues... and continues to violate the rules of various institutions… this defendant’s ability to conform his behavior (to) be a law-abiding and productive member of society is suspect.”
--Assistant Prosecutor Charles Morrow
Members of the public may submit comments about the potential parole of Charles Perry. Comments can be made through the ODRC website: https://drc.ohio.gov/systems-and-services/1-parole/parole-board-hearing-input
For more information, contact Guy M. Vogrin, public information officer/investigator for the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office at 330-675-2485.
UPDATE: Aug. 4, 2025
Three ruthless, violent inmates from Trumbull County who murdered or raped women, recently had their paroles denied by the State Parole Board
The information was provided by state officials late last week to Jenna Maze, coordinator of the Prosecutor’s Office Victims/Witness Division.
Trumbull County Prosecuting Attorney Dennis Watkins welcomed the news and thanked the parole board for keeping these dangerous individuals locked up for the safety of the citizens of Ohio and especially Trumbull County.
Gregory Click, 61, who is serving an aggregate sentence of 13 to 65 years in prison, has had his term extended at least until his next parole hearing scheduled for April 2029.
Click, who is incarcerated at Richland Correctional Institution was convicted in 1994 of attempted aggravated murder, three counts of aggravated robbery, one count of attempted rape and one count of theft. The case involved an attack of a 75-year-old woman of Herner County Line Road in Southington. The woman was beaten badly about the head with swelling shutting her eyes and bruising over her legs and shoulders. The woman died three years after the attack and continued to suffer with “horrendous pain,” Watkins said.
Watkins says he is pleased the parole board recognized “the unique factors of the depraved horrific violence inflicted on an elderly woman in her own home” in denying parole t
o Click.
Brian Clingerman, 55, who is incarcerated in Noble Correctional Institution, had his prison
term extended until at least May 2029 when his next parole hearing is scheduled to take place. Clingerman is serving an aggregate sentence of 12 to 50 years in prison after being convicted in 1996 of two counts of rape.
On Aug. 20, 1994, Clingerman used a ladder to enter the bedroom of a 33-year-old divorcee who lived with her aunt. She was attacked while she slept. In addition to brutally sexually assaulting her, Clingerman struck her in the face, choked her, bloodied her nose and beat her about the head until she became disoriented.
On Jan. 18, 1995, Clingerman again forcibly made entry into the home of a 23-year-old mother of two whose three-year-old son and four-year-old daughter were both in her bed when Clingerman struck. He took her into another bedroom to sexually assault her after slamming her head on the bed.
Robert E. Williams, 67, who is incarcerated in Allen Correctional Institution, will remain in prison for at least two more years, with his next parole hearing set for April 2027. Wiliams is serving a 23-ye
ar to life prison sentence after being convicted in 1989 to aggravated murder and gross sexual imposition.
Williams was convicted of the shooting and slashing death of a 24-year-old pregnant waitress and mother of two in the fall of 1988. The woman had served Williams a shrimp dinner at a Trumbull County tavern. After an argument over the condition of the food, Williams shot the victim twice in the back of the head and in the back of her torso. When she tried to reach for a telephone, Williams got a knife from the kitchen and slashed her throat. He then fondled her breast before stepping on her throat until she stopped breathing.
Watkins stated in previous letters that both families of the victim and the defendant have opposed parole, and Watkins said he is elated that Williams will not be able to unleash his fury on anyone for at least two more years.
Members of the public may submit comments about the previous cases. Comments can be made through the ODRC website: https://drc.ohio.gov/systems-and-services/1-parole/parole-board-hearing-input
For more information, contact Guy M. Vogrin, public information officer/investigator for the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office at 330-675-2485.
Age: 64 (born 7/25/1960)
Incarcerated: Richland Correctional Institution
Parole hearing: April 2025. This will be Santine’s first hearing.
Convicted on March 20, 1997, on charges of aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, attempted aggravated murder with a three-year gun specification, in the 1995 murder of Ann Serafino and the attempted murder of Charles Serafino, during the early morning hours of July 7, 1995, at the Serafino residence in Hubbard.
He was sentenced to a 43-year-to-life prison sentence by the late Trumbull County Judge John M. Stuard.
Santine was one of four people convicted in the murder-for-hire scheme. One of them, Jason Getsy, was executed by the state of Ohio in August 2009 at the age of 33 after Gov. Strickland rejected his clemency bid.
According to court documents, Santine offered to pay co-defendant Ben Hudach, along with co-defendants Getsy and Rick McNulty, $5,000 to kill Charles Serafino and any witness.
The crime was orchestrated because Santine was in a dispute over ownership of a landscaping business with Charles Serafino. According to evidence, Charles Serafino was lying wounded on the floor when Getsy struck his mother, Ann, in the head with a revolver, opening a 4-inch gash, and then shot her twice, killing her, saying “die bitch die!” Later, Getsy told a woman at a party that a piece of pizza with no cheese on it “looks like this bitch’s face after we shot her.”
QUOTES: “John Santine, the oldest of four conspirators, hatched a plan to murder, helped with the details along the way, and provided transportation to his accomplices and the actual killer to the victim’s house and then reveled in the murder and mayhem he brought, and afterwards, when the blood lust was finished, he was at 24½ South Main to greet and toast the killers and the deed, telling one of his accomplices after believing two victims were murdered in cold blood: ‘I f---ing love these guys!’ ”
“This man has yet to serve his minimum sentence and deserves no mercy or release by this Parole Board or any other in the future. Every remaining day of him serving his lucky life sentence he should be giving thanks that he didn’t join Getsy earlier. But some day, he may reprise in seeing Getsy again where evil resides eternally. Please, this man deserves no parole! The memory of homeowner Ann Serafino deserves better!”
Dennis Watkins, Trumbull County Prosecutor
Members of the public may submit comments about the potential parole of John Santine. Comments can be made through the ODRC website: https://drc.ohio.gov/systems-and-services/1-parole/parole-board-hearing-input
For more information, contact Guy M. Vogrin, public information officer/investigator for the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office at 330-675-2485.
AGE: 45 (born 6/13/1979)
INCARCERATED: Marion Correctional Institution
PAROLE HEARING: May 2025
SENTENCED: On March 19, 2004, Lyons was sentenced to 10 years to life by former Trumbull County Judge W. Wyatt McKay on rape with firearm specification and one count of kidnapping.
The female victim was 12 years old at the time of the incident. She lived in the same neighborhood as Lyons’ grandmother. The victim knew Lyons because she would walk his dogs. The victim testified Lyons asked her to step inside of the house when she came over to ask to walk the dogs. Following a kiss, Lyons put a gun to the victim’s head and told her he would kill her if she told anyone about what he did. Lyons then put his finger into the victim’s vagina and then inserted his tongue into her vagina before engaging in sexual intercourse with her.
Tragically, Lyons’ victim died in March 2020 of a drug overdose at the age of 30, leaving behind her husband and four children. Her sister told a prosecutor that the victim suffered a “breakdown” about the day she was raped by Lyons and had lamented the fact that her life was never right after she was attacked.
Meanwhile, according to Assistant Prosecutor Michael Burnett who prosecuted Lyons’ case, there is absolutely no evidence that inmate Lyons has made any genuine attempt to rehabilitate himself while in prison.
“To the contrary, he entered institutional life and joined a notorious street/prison gang,” Burnett wrote to the parole board. “It is clear that Inmate Lyons’ history of institutional infractions and gang affiliation shows that he is still engaging in a pattern of aggressive and lawless behavior.”
Burnett stated the inmate has also failed to complete a “stunning number” of the programs he started in the state penitentiary.
In his letter to the parole board, Burnett concludes that Lyons “cannot be rehabilitated.”
“It is our opinion that releasing Inmate Lyons would be careless and present an unreasonable risk to society and demean the seriousness of the offenses he committed.” Burnett writes.
QUOTE:
“The fact that he (Lyons) broke poor 12-year-old (victim) to the point that she was never able to recover… is appalling. What is even more appalling is the fact that he left her so damaged that she ultimately died from the addiction-fueled psychological trauma that he inflicted on her.”
Members of the public may submit comments about the potential parole of Deavery Lyons. Comments can be made through the ODRC website: https://drc.ohio.gov/systems-and-services/1-parole/parole-board-hearing-input
For more information, contact Guy M. Vogrin, public information officer/investigator for the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office at 330-675-2485.
The Ohio Adult Parole Authority has extended the prison stays of two violent offenders from Trumbull County, who have been imprisoned for a total o
f 73 years.
Jenna Maze, administrative assistant for the Victim/Witness Division of the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office, learned on Jan. 21 that bids for parole have been denied for both Van Gentry Fickes, 60, and David Owens, 59.
Fickes, photo at left, who is serving a 30-year-to-life prison sentence for conviction of two counts of murder, has been extended until at least October 2029, while Owens, photo at right, who is serving four life sentences for convictions of rape, has been extended by the parole board until at least October 2027.
Prosecuting Attorney Dennis Watkins said he is very pleased with the decisions, saying the victims and family members of these crimes -- and the public in general -- will be safe. In his opinion, the release of these offenders, based on their histories, would present “a clear and present danger to the public.”
In letters objecting to his possible parole, Watkins wrote that Owens has “a disgusting sexual appetite for children under age 13” and has shown continued bad conduct with dozens of prison rule infractions, including drug use, fights, threats, destruction of property and the stalking and threatening of a female corrections officer.
By age 27, Owens had been a repeat violent offender some 17 different times between 1985 and 1988 before getting a six-month prison sentence for two counts of forgery and one count of receiving stolen property. In 1992, he was arrested by Warren police for multiple counts of rape and kidnapping, involving four female victims ages 9,9, 8 and 5.
At a 1985 jury trial before the Honorable Judge David F. McLain, Fickes was convicted in the 1983 violent slayings of Christine and Ronald Fickes -- his mother and brother -- who were killed by shotgun blasts. The murders were committed while Fickes was on probation for attempted breaking and entering convictions. In his letter to the parole board, Watkins called Fickes “truly devoid of conscience.”
Watkins and his assistant prosecutor and former Common Pleas Judge Peter Kontos tried the case for the state.
For more information, contact Guy M. Vogrin, public information officer/investigator for the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office at 330-675-2485.