: Brian W. McCurdyViolent rapist of 7-year-old child should remain in prison for life then there will be no more victims, says assistant prosecutor
AGE: 58 (born 6/26/1967)
INCARCERATED: Marion Correctional Institution
PAROLE HEARING: September 2025
SENTENCED: 10 years to life on May 28, 2010, by former Trumbull County Judge Andrew D. Logan after McCurdy pleaded guilty to one count of rape.
THE CRIME: On October 14, 2009, a seven-year-old relative of McCurdy reported to her mother that while the man was babysitting her, he pulled his pants down and tried to “stick the part that boys pee from” in her butt and that he used two fingers and touched her in “the front part.”
McCurdy later admitted to Niles police that he had committed the anal sex.
“As (this) seven-year-old … was not safe from him, no child would be ever safe from (McCurdy). No parole officer could ever hope to have close enough supervision over him to prevent this from happening to another child. The only way to prevent him from doing this to another child is to keep him in prison until the expiration of his sentence.”
- Diane L. Barber, assistant prosecutor and chief counsel for Child Assault Prosecution Unit
Members of the public may submit comments about the potential parole of Brian W. McCurdy. 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.
A third lapse of memory of doing the right thing – and instead – an escalation of his criminal behavior to include aggravated murder, mayhem and more! The prose of “the Betz scenario” is this:
I. Gary Betz may have the most successful treatment rate while at the same time, a much higher subsequent failure rate. CASE IN POINT: In 1971 at age 17, he was sentenced to the Mansfield Reformatory for a year on a breaking and entering offense.
II. A year later, Betz reoffends with another burglary and was sentenced back to Mansfield for a term of one to five years. A second round of rehabilitation found him released on parole.
III. A third lapse of memory on Dec. 15, 1976, found Betz escalating his criminal behavior at the Lake Milton tavern with robbery, murder, mayhem and more.
IV. The Silver Lining: There are always more treatment programs in prison to allow more releases on parole for Gary Betz.
V. In 2007, Mr. Betz uses a serious medical condition to have success before a full board in gaining parole. But once again, that parole had to be revoked because he repeatedly drove his vehicle while drunk several times on the roadways of Columbiana County. One Minerva police officer officially labeled Betz “a super drunk.”
VI. More rehabilitation programs gained Betz another Full Board Parole Hearing in 2020. But this time, there was no release because a family member warned the board that Betz could get car keys and drive drunk again!
VII. It’s 2025, and there is another opportunity for another chance for Betz to be released on parole for a fourth time!
VIII. To q
uote Nancy Reagan of 1986: “Please Just Say No!”
GARY ALLEN BETZ
AGE: 71
PAROLE HEARING: September 2025 (Mr. Watkins has written 10 letters opposing Mr. Betz’s parole)
SENTENCED: On Aug. 24, 1977, he was given a 22 -year-to-life prison sentence by a three-judge panel in Trumbull County for convictions of aggravated robbery and aggravated murder.
THE CRIMES: Betz was found guilty of the shotgun shooting death of Lake Milton area tavern owner Ron Goche in late 1976.
Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins has stated in previous letters to the parole board that Betz was paroled twice from prison before murdering Goche and robbing him of $138 in bar receipts.
After spending 30 years in prison for the killing of Goche, Betz was paroled for a third time in 2007 despite strong opposition from the victim’s family and the prosecutor’s office.
The criminal streak continued as Betz landed himself in more trouble while on parole. Betz violated terms of his release by accumulating three DUI charges in 2008, 2010 and 2011. He was sent back to prison following these offenses.
On Nov. 20, 1975, records show that Betz was sentenced to the Ohio State Penitentiary for a second time on a breaking and entering conviction in Columbiana County. He was released on parole supervision about a month before Goche was murdered. Within six years’ time, Betz had back-to-back-to-back prison sentences.
Testimony at a trial before a three-judge panel in 1977 showed Betz shot Goche in the face with a sawed-off shotgun at point-blank range, after entering Goche’s bar – the Riviera Inn – to rob it. A witness overheard the bar owner tell Betz to take the day’s receipts of $138, and he wouldn’t do anything to him. Betz took the money and fatally shot Goche anyway.
“To repeat my many prior letters – in my view; the cruel and unique factors found in Gary Betz’s actions and lifetime history of bad conduct or not listening should scream out against a fourth parole release! …Please don’t release him on parole for the fourth time. You’re dealing with quintessential evil.” Prosecuting Attorney Dennis Watkins
Members of the public may submit comments about the potential parole of Gary A. Betz. 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 Vogrin, investigator / public information officer, Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office, 330-675-2485.
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.