A former Nesquehoning man who blamed a string of robberies, including holding up a Redner's supermarket clerk at knifepoint, on a crack cocaine habit he developed after his wife died won't have to face the consequences of a 2008 DUI arrest.

Schuylkill County President Judge William Baldwin on April 2 dropped the case against Keith Pierce, 51, who is serving a lengthy sentence in the state prison at Smithfield, Fayette County. He's been there since Oct. 26, 2012. Baldwin also dissolved a bench warrant that had been issued for Pierce.State Police at Frackville had charged Pierce with driving under the influence and driving under the influence-highest rate on Nov. 13, 2008. Pierce's blood alcohol content was above 0.16 percent. The law considers any reading at or above 0.08 percent as impaired.A bench warrant had been issued for Pierce, who will also be serving time for the other robberies he committed. According to court documents and testimony, Pierce threatened the Redner's clerk with a knife at 6:06 p.m. Jan. 31, 2011, robbing her till of $380.Pierce was caught on video as he held the clerk at knifepoint, then reached into the cash register to grab the money. He fled, dropping the cash, and stopping to pick up the bills. He left a $5 bill behind.He was identified by a Redner's representative, who had seen him in the store several times. Police later recovered the knife at Pierce's home.Pierce pleaded guilty in Carbon County Court to robbery and theft on Oct. 11, 2011. Judge Joseph J. Matika on Dec. 21, 2012, sentenced Pierce to 9 to 24 months in state prison for the robbery. Pierce was to begin the sentence after he finished serving a 3 1/2- to 7-year sentence he was serving in York County for robbing a Hess Express and a Rite Aid drugstore in March 2011.Matika also sentenced Pierce to a year's probation, to be served at the same time, for accepting money to do roof repairs on a Carbon County home in 2011, but not doing the work. He was also ordered to return the $506 in that case.Pierce explained to Matika that depression over the death of his wife in 2010 led to an addiction to crack cocaine. His lawyer, Joseph Perilli, said that before the addiction, Pierce had led a law-abiding life.In another case, Baldwin dropped misdemeanor charges of retail theft and use or possession of drug paraphernalia against Jeremy Plasko, 37, of Tamaqua.Plasko was charged by Tamaqua police on July 29, 2013.