YOUNGSTOWN — The Seventh District Court of Appeals has upheld a decision by Judge Theresa Dellick of Mahoning County Juvenile Court sentencing Ahmareon Williams, now 21, of Boardman to six years in adult prison for a violation of the terms of his juvenile probation.

The violation was Williams being charged with kidnapping and five other charges in Farrell, Pa., in 2022. Those charges are still pending in Magisterial District Court in Mercer County, Pa.

Williams was 16 in January 2018, when Youngstown police charged him with delinquency by aggravated robbery with a gun specification.

Williams admitted to the robbery, and Dellick found him to be a serious youthful offender, committing him to an Ohio Department of Youth Services facility for an indefinite sentence of 12 months up to his 21st birthday and three years on the gun specification.

Dellick also found that she had the discretion to impose an adult sentence of six years in adult prison but held that sentence in abeyance provided that Williams successfully completed his juvenile commitment, the ruling states.

On May 2, 2022, Williams’ Department of Youth Services parole officer filed a charge of delinquency against Williams, who was then 19, alleging Williams had a warrant for new charges in Farrell.

In August 2022, the juvenile prosecutor filed a motion to invoke the suspended part of Williams juvenile-court sentence and a hearing was held. Among those who testified was the victim of the charges filed in Farrell.

On Jan. 4, 2023, Dellick issued a judgment entry, finding the testimony of Williams’ parole officer and the victim credible and finding that Williams was 20 years old at the time of the alleged offenses in Farrell, Pa., and was eligible for an adult sentence. She also found it “unlikely that Williams would be rehabilitated within the five months that were left for him to be under the juvenile court’s jurisdiction.

Williams’ charges in Farrell were kidnapping, use of a firearm without a license, conspiracy to kidnap and inflict terror or injury, robbery or threats to commit robbery, theft by law and aggravated assault.

Dellick “lifted the stay of the adult portion of (Williams’) prison sentence and invoked the adult portion of the Department of Youth Services commitment,” the filing states. She ordered him to serve six years in adult prison with credit for time already served. Williams appealed the ruling in February. Prison records indicate Williams will be eligible for parole in April of 2026.

His appeal argued that Dellick erred in ruling that Williams “engaged in conduct that created a substantial risk to the safety or security of the community or victim.”

It also argued that Dellick erred when she determined that Williams was unlikely to be rehabilitated during the remainder of his juvenile court’s jurisdiction.

His attorneys argued that “at the time of the probation violation hearing, charges were “only pending in Pennsylvania and he was in the process of litigating them.” The pending charges in Pennsylvania were “not a conviction,” counsel noted.

The victim in the Pennsylvania case “had charges lodged against him in Pennsylvania for sexually assaulting” a relative of Williams, the ruling states, quoting from Williams’ lawyer. The Pennsylvania case involved allegations that Williams met with “the victim who allegedly sexually assaulted (Williams’ relative), took him to more than one location at gunpoint, made threats to kill him and stole the victim’s cell phone,” the ruling states.

Williams received the “highest level of good behavior” while he was in a Department of Youth Services facility in his juvenile case, and Dellick granted Williams early release, the ruling notes.

Williams’ attorney argued that the testimony of the victim of Williams charges in Pennsylvania “should be viewed as suspect since (the victim) was also facing charges in Pennsylvania as to the alleged sexual assault of” Williams’ relative.

The ruling stated that Dellick found that all of the conditions for imposing an adult sentence were met, including that Williams was at least 14 years old at the time of the misconduct that led to the probation violation, the offense could be charged as a felony or first degree misdemeanor, and Williams “engaged in conduct that creates a substantial risk to the safety or security of the community or the victim.”

The ruling cited the victim’s testimony: Williams “blindfolded him, took him by gunpoint to various locations and threatened to shoot him in the head. Forcing a person to walk blindfolded in public with a firearm pointed at his back and threatening to shoot him in the head suffices to create substantial risk to both (the victim) and the public at large,” the appeals ruling states.

erunyan@vindy.com