An Ironton woman accused of stealing from the elderly and a Pedro man accused of drug charges were among those making appearances Wednesday in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court.

Alicia Collins, 21, of 3997 State Route 243, pleaded guilty on a bill of information to two counts of theft from the elderly. Judge D. Scott Bowling, whose first day in criminal court was Wednesday, sentenced her to four years community controlled sanctions under intensive supervised probation and ordered her to get substance abuse treatment. He also ordered her to pay $3,905 in restitution to her victims.

“The victims are the defendant’s grandparents. This arose from a drug abuse problem and they are primarily concerned with getting her treatment for her problems,” Assistant Lawrence County Prosecutor Brigham Anderson said.

Michael Nelson, 46, of 988 County Road 14, Pedro, pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine. Bowling sentenced him to six months in prison.

Nelson and Collins were among the more than 20 criminal cases waiting for Bowling on his first day.

“Everything is going along smoothly,” Bowling said. “I got a lot of good advice from presiding judge (Charles) Cooper. “And I’m finding the staff and assistants in the courthouse to be quite competent and experience in their roles.”

Bowling was sworn in last week. His first day on the bench was Monday.

In another case, Cindy Hacker, 31, of 193 County Road 43, Ironton, was sentenced to two years community controlled sanctions under intensive supervised probation. She had pleaded guilty June 15 to tampering with evidence.