$1M bond set for inmate accused of assaulting TCI officers

Bond was set at $1 million Monday for a former inmate at the Trumbull County Correctional Institution, who, according to an indictment, assaulted two corrections officers in March.

Joseph Hunter, 38, appeared in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court on two counts of felonious assault, each carrying a repeat violent offender specification. The indictment alleges that on March 14, 2025, Hunter seriously harmed two TCI corrections officers.

A repeat violent offender specification is an enhancement to a criminal charge, allowing for more severe penalties if the defendant has a history of certain violent felony convictions.

Hunter, who has since been moved to the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown, is currently serving a 32-year sentence. That sentence stems from previous convictions in Lucas County for involuntary manslaughter, attempted murder, felonious assault, and aggravated robbery, all first-degree felonies.

Those charges originated from Nov. 21, 2011, robbery of a Toledo convenience store, during which the clerk fatally shot Hunter's accomplice. Although Hunter did not fire the fatal shot, he was convicted and sentenced in connection with his partner's death.