Staff report

WARREN — Three people, including a woman who swallowed fentanyl during a traffic stop in Liberty last summer, all pleaded guilty Wednesday to drug charges before Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Judge Cynthia Westcott.

Kayla Lipscomb, 35, of Apricot Drive SW, Warren, pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of a fentanyl-related compound and one count of attempted tampering with evidence. The case involved two incidents in March 2025.

According to a Liberty police report, an officer was on stationary patrol on Belmont Avenue on March 6, 2025, when he noticed a Kia SUV traveling north and failing to dim its high-beam lights, noting that it had a non-functioning low-beam headlight on its passenger side.

Upon pulling the vehicle over and checking the driver and Lipscomb, who was a passenger, through LEADS, an active obstructing official business warrant for her arrest through the Lordstown Police Department was revealed. Lipscomb was placed in handcuffs, and she admitted to “likely” having a crack pipe in the car, the report stated.

A police dog was called to the scene to conduct a probable cause search, during which officers found a rubber band tourniquet, two glass pipes with narcotic residue and a black digital scale. A mushroom container with a white rock substance inside, a blue sphere container with a similar substance and a folded green piece of paper with an unknown white powder were found as well.

Lipscomb told officers she did not feel well, explaining that she had consumed a baggie of fentanyl when he pulled over the SUV. She refused to be administered Narcan and told the officer she ate “one-half to one gram” of the narcotic, which belonged to the driver, who handed it to her when they were pulled over.

The officer reviewed his car camera footage, showing the baggie in her mouth at two different points, and concluded that she swallowed it while in police custody.

Lipscomb was eventually transported to the hospital and issued a summons, the report states.

Later in the month, Trumbull County jail corrections officers found another rock-like substance on Lipscomb while she was a prisoner, according to a report from the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office.

Before Lipscomb can undergo a background investigation, the judge ordered her to attend rehab. Sentencing will take place once she completes her rehab.

OTHER CASES

• Antoine Pugh, 33, of Homewood Avenue SE, Warren, pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound, one count of aggravated trafficking in drugs and one count of possession of cocaine. The case involved a 2024 drug investigation by the sheriff’s TAG anti-drug task force.

Pugh was charged with selling small amounts of drugs three times to a confidential informant in August and September of that year. And on Oct. 11, 2024, TAG officers searched Pugh’s home and found 3.5 grams of cocaine plus $4,056 in cash, a firearm, a cellphone, scales, ammunition and other contraband.

Pugh agreed to forfeit the cash, the gun and other items as part of the plea deal. He will be sentenced after undergoing a background investigation.

• Brian D. Williamson, 23, Randolph Street NW, Warren, pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine and obstructing official business felonies. The case involved an Aug. 22 incident in which Williamson, who was wanted on a warrant, tried to flee from officers from a Randolph Street home and was found with a baggie that contained 6.3 grams of cocaine.

Williamson will be sentenced after undergoing a background investigation.