The Highland County Press has reported two federal sentencings in northern Ohio involving Robert Parham, 55, of Akron, and Scotty L. Skiba, 39, of Salem, Ohio. Both matters were brought in the district the outlet described variously as the "" and "." Both defendants are at the stage of proceedings.
The outlet's report on drug trafficking offenses describes charges of three counts of felon in possession of a firearm, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, four counts of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and cocaine, possession of a machine gun, and maintaining a drug involved premises. According to that report, the government says federal agents investigating suspected drug trafficking in the Akron area executed a search warrant at Parham's Akron apartment on July 2, 2024, seizing 178 grams of methamphetamine, 142 grams of cocaine, 355 grams of fentanyl, drug trafficking paraphernalia, 28 firearms including two stolen firearms and one outfitted with an attached machine gun conversion device, marijuana, ecstasy tablets, three cellphones and $1,907.88 in U.S. currency.
The outlet's second report concerns counts of Receipt and Distribution of Visual Depictions of Real Minors Engaged in Sexually Explicit Conduct and Possession of Child Pornography, or Child Sexual Abuse Materials (CSAM). According to court documents and evidence presented in court as described in that report, from about July 2024 to June 2025 investigators found that Skiba was knowingly receiving and distributing digital files containing images of the sexual abuse of children; a search warrant at his residence yielded multiple electronic devices, and forensic analysis revealed Skiba possessed more than 1,500 images and videos of CSAM. Investigators also learned Skiba had previously engaged in sexual contact with two minors, the report said.
On the sentences, the reporting gives two figures that it does not reconcile against one another: in one account, and 240 months (20 years) in prison, a lifetime of supervised release, $40,000 in restitution to victims and $10,000 toward the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Assistance Act in the other. Both figures are attributed to The Highland County Press. No maximum penalty figure was cited in the reporting.
The agencies named as investigating the two matters are the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the FBI Akron Resident Agency, the Akron Police Department, the FBI Youngstown Resident Agency, the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force, the Noble County Sheriff's Office and the Southeastern Human Trafficking Task Force, according to the reports.
Added a second sentencing (Scotty L. Skiba, child exploitation counts) from a second Highland County Press report, the additional investigating agencies, and both reported sentence figures presented as an unreconciled pair.
Version 114 Aug 2026, 01:02current
First published.
Version 114 Aug 2026, 00:52current
First published.
Version 114 Aug 2026, 01:12current
First published.
Version 114 Aug 2026, 00:57
First published.
How we work
This site models an investigative reporter rather than a wire desk. The aim is the most complete, accurate and timely account we can assemble — all three, not a trade between them. Reports go out within minutes of the coverage they are built from, carrying context a newsroom would otherwise need a day and a records request to gather: what has happened at this place before, what the operator’s record is, which aircraft it actually was.
Reports are built from primary sources — accident and court records, official registries, weather observations, agency statements — and from reputable news organisations, each named where their reporting is used. Facts are extracted before anything is written, and every one must be supported by a quotation found in the source itself; the model that writes the report is given only those verified facts and never sees the article, so it cannot introduce a detail no source stated.
Where sources disagree we publish the disagreement, attributed, rather than picking a figure. Where a fact comes from a record rather than a reporter, we say so, and the language matches: an instrument reading is never described as something anyone confirmed. Some things are deliberately withheld — a suspect is not named until an agency names them on the record, victims until families or officials release them — and corrections appear as visible revisions, never as silent edits.
None of that makes a report true. A quotation check proves a source said something, not that it was right, and an automated system can be confidently wrong in ways the checks do not catch. If something here is wrong, the feedback above is how it gets found. The full methodology, including what we refuse to publish.