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Jury deliberates 6 minutes to convict Ronald J. Chappell

Ronald Chappell served as his own lawyer

YOUNGSTOWN — A jury deliberated only six minutes Tuesday morning before reaching verdict in the two-day Ronald J. Chappell weapons trial in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

The jury found Chappell guilty of having weapons while not allowed and carrying a concealed weapon. Chappell, 35, of West Boston Avenue, served as his own lawyer. He could get about four years in prison. An investigation of Chappell’s background and criminal history will be carried out before he is sentenced.

Chappell’s bond was revoked after the verdict, and he was taken from the courtroom to the Mahoning County jail. He had been free on bond during the trial.

The offenses occurred July 1, 2022, on Market Street in Boardman. He is not allowed to possess weapons because of earlier convictions, according to Chappell’s indictment.

During closing arguments Tuesday before Judge Anthony D’Apolito, Chappell argued that he should not be found guilty because he had a gun to protect himself from people who view him to be a “snitch,” meaning a person who talks to police about criminal matters.

“What is unreasonable about me believing that I would be ambushed and kidnapped by members of violent street gangs that are known for kidnapping?” he asked the jury.

Chappell said his defense is that people who would like to harm him “are doing stuff they are not supposed to be doing, and you’re not blaming them. And I’m doing what’s supposed to be done, what is encouraged by law, and you’re saying I’m breaking the law. It don’t make sense.”

Steve Maszczak, assistant county prosecutor, then gave a brief closing argument, saying Chappell’s “supposed defense of duress is only a distraction from the fact that Mr. Chappell is guilty of both of the charges.”

He said the “only thing he did was unsuccessfully offer this theory as an excuse as to why he committed those crimes on July 1, 2022.”

Maszczak said the jury is “not to consider it as a defense unless the judge instructs you to.” He asked the jury to deliberate “by the law, the testimony, the evidence.”

A Boardman police report states that at 4:06 a.m. July 1, a Boardman officer saw Chappell walking in the middle of Market Street near Meadowbrook Avenue and the Forest Lawn Cemetery. The officer pulled behind the man, who then moved onto the sidewalk and continued to walk north.

The officer said Chappell “was upset and said that there was no cars on the street and that is why he was not using the sidewalk.”

A check with dispatchers indicated there was a warrant for Chappell’s arrest out of Youngstown Municipal Court for theft. Chappell was detained and handcuffed and asked if he had anything he was not supposed to have, and Chappell said he did not.

The officer felt something in Chappell’s pocket, and Chappell said he had a magazine for a gun that was in the other pocket. The gun was placed in the rear of another officer’s cruiser, as well as three bullet magazines in Chappell’s pants pockets.

“Chappell said he carries the gun for his protection,” the report states. He was arrested on having weapons while not allowed. He was given a warning for walking in the road, the police report states.

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