The Ohio 11th District Court of Appeals on Monday upheld the conviction and three-year prison sentence of a Trumbull County woman convicted in 2025 of multicount drug felonies.

Trumbull County Judge Sarah T. Kovoor sentenced Ashley Crislip, 36, also known as Ashley Winters, on June 10, 2025, after Crislip pleaded guilty to three counts of trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound, (one fifth-degree felony and two fourth-degree felonies), trafficking in cocaine, and possession of heroin, cocaine and fentanyl-related compound, all third-degree felonies.

The case involved Crislip selling drugs to a confidential informant working with the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office TAG anti-drug task force in the vicinity of Warren G. Harding High School in June and July of 2019. During a subsequent raid of the defendant’s residence, TAG officers recovered 10 grams of fentanyl, about 10 grams of heroin, about 20 grams of cocaine, $512 in cash and firearms.

In her appeal, Crislip and her attorney, Aaron Meikle, assigned four errors at the trial court level:

• Erred by considering improper, speculative and personal factors at sentencing.

• Failed to properly weigh mitigating evidence and rehabilitation presented in the background investigation of the defendant.

• Violated due process by threatening to revoke Crislip’s bond prior to the plea hearing, which demonstrated the court had predetermined imposing a prison sentence.

• Erred by failing to inquire into potential judicial conflict of interest raised on the record because of a prior attorney-client relationship.

The appellate judges, Eugene Lucci, Matt Lynch and Robert J. Patton, found that all four assignments of error lacked merit and affirmed the conviction and prison sentence. Crislip will continue to serve her sentence at the Northeast Correctional Center, with release scheduled for January 2028.

In writing his decision, Lucci noted “a judge’s sentencing requires the exercise of personal judgment; the court is not required to divorce itself from all personal experiences and make (its) decision in a vacuum.”

“Considering the facts, appellant has failed to demonstrate the trial court acted vindictively or otherwise violated her due process rights,” Lucci continued.

The Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office notes that drug sentences for peddling heroin and cocaine were much longer before 1974 (at one time in the 1970s up to 20 to 40 years for sales) and repeatedly doing so increased the penalties even more. With light penalties, there is less deterrence.

The oral arguments of this appellate case were argued in January at Warren JFK High School in January as part of the 11th District’s “Courtroom in the Classroom” program. School was canceled that day because of a snowstorm, but about 20 students still showed up to observe the arguments delivered by Meikle and Trumbull County Assistant Prosecutor Charles Morrow. The case was originally prosecuted by Assistant Prosecutor Gina Thomas.