YOUNGSTOWN — Robert C. Powell, 25, of North Carolina, who was working in the Youngstown area when he struck a car in the intersection of U.S. Route 422 and North Hubbard Road in Coitsville Township, killing its driver, was sentenced recently to 5 to 7 1/2 years in prison.

Powell gets credit for 67 days already spent in the Mahoning County jail.

Powell was convicted at trial of aggravated vehicular homicide, a second-degree felony, improperly handling a firearm in a motor vehicle and misdemeanor OVI.

Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony Donofrio handed down the sentence.

At the scene of the 6:48 p.m. April 10, 2025, crash, Powell refused a breath test, but Coitsville Township police Sgt. Charles Butch administered field sobriety tests and arrested him.

John Kulnis, 62, of New Castle, Pa., who was driving the other vehicle, was killed.

Kulnis was traveling east on Route 422, a four-lane road that had no stop signs or traffic signals at that intersection, while Powell was traveling south on Hubbard Road, which had two stop signs at different distances as Powell approached the Route 422 intersection.

The placement of the stop signs was a big part of the defense’s case, arguing that the placement of a stop sign about 92 feet back from the intersection was not in the right place and created problems for Powell seeing Kulnis’ car. A second stop sign was on the left side of Hubbard Road about 52 feet away from Route 422, almost in the right place.

After the trial, The Vindicator asked the Ohio Department of Transportation about the stop signs and was told that the misplaced sign was moved closer to the intersection March 12, 2026. The trial ended Feb. 10, 2026.

ODOT Spokesman Justin Chesnic said the stop sign was moved back as part of a “systematic sign review,” but that ODOT went back out June 1 after the inquiry from The Vindicator and made some additional adjustments to ensure that the signs were no more than 50 feet from the intersection.

He said the stop sign that was too far back was moved as part of a waterline project that occurred around 2021. Mahoning County Engineer Pat Ginnetti said AquaOhio owns the waterlines in that area and would have been the company that hired the waterline contractor.

AquaOhio later told The Vindicator a contractor did install a water main at the intersection in the spring of 2021, but they have no documentation regarding the stop sign being moved.

An expert witness for Powell testified that the rules state that, with some exceptions, “stop signs should not be placed further than 50 feet from the intersection.”

Butch testified during Powell’s trial that when he first encountered Powell the night of the crash, he observed that Powell’s “speech seemed slurred.”

Butch asked Powell about consuming alcohol and confronted Powell, “I can smell it, and your speech is slurred,” Butch said on his body cam recording that was played during the trial.

Butch said Powell’s “balance was off,” and Powell had a “strong smell of alcohol.” The video showed the field sobriety tests, which Powell failed.

Butch said Powell was charged with the gun offense because it is illegal to have firearms in a motor vehicle when a person is under the influence of alcohol.

Powell’s attorney, Jeff Jakmides, told jurors in opening statements that Powell was in the area running his own business assisting with underground utilities. Under questioning by Jakmides, Butch agreed he did not find Powell’s eyes to be glassy, red or bloodshot.

Since 2019, Kulnis had worked at the Lawrence County Courthouse in the recycling and solid waste management department, according to his obituary. He also served as maintenance director at CRAY youth and family services. In 2024, he was presented with the Environmental Education Award by the Lawrence County Conservation District which recognized his commitment to preserving the environment and natural resources.