HARRISBURG The state Superior Court has upheld the lengthy prison sentence for a Hazleton man who was convicted of carjacking a woman at gunpoint along Interstate 81 in Rice Township.

Leonard Montalvo-Rivera, 32, of South Poplar Street, was convicted Nov. 1, 2013, in a non-jury trial before Luzerne County Judge Fred Pierantoni III on charges of robbery, criminal conspiracy to commit theft, simple assault and two counts of criminal conspiracy to commit robbery.Pierantoni sentenced Montalvo-Rivera on Jan. 3, 2014, to five years to 13 years, three months in state prison followed by two years' probation.State police at Hazleton said Montalvo-Rivera and three other men were driving south on Interstate 81 and stopped in front of a 2012 Dodge Journey that was parking along the highway on June 26, 2012. A woman was in the driver's seat.The woman told state police four men approached her armed with pistols and ordered her in the back seat. She complied but was later allowed to leave before Montalvo-Rivera drove away with her Dodge, the complaint says.A Weatherly police officer spotted Montalvo-Rivera and the three men driving the Dodge in a wooded area in Packer Township, Carbon County, where they were arrested.Montalvo-Rivera appealed the conviction claiming the woman was unable to identify him when she testified.The appellate court upheld the conviction because a co-conspirator in the crime, Jean Carlos Ventura-Betancourt, 25, of Hazleton, testified Montalvo-Rivera was the main suspect in the carjacking.Ventura-Betancourt pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy to commit robbery and was sentenced Nov. 20, 2013, to 12 months, less one day to 24 months, less two days followed by five years probation.