A Penn Forest Township resident, who pleaded guilty to setting fire to a church, was sentenced on Tuesday to a county prison term.

Andrew Wargo Griffith, 31, of Wargo Drive, was sentenced by Senior Judge Richard W. Webb to serve a total of 19 to 48 months in prison followed by five years of probation. Although the prison term will be served in the county, it is a state sentence meaning Griffith will be under the jurisdiction of the state parole board.Griffith pleaded guilty on April 12 in three pending cases against him. He pleaded on the day he was scheduled to pick a jury to hear the cases.Griffith was charged in connection with a fire that extensively damaged the Christ Lutheran Church, Church Road, in Penn Forest Township, on Nov. 4, 2006. He was also charged with returning to the church on Nov. 7, 2006, to start a second fire to destroy any evidence that he felt might lead to him.He was also charged with entering the Lighthouse Baptist Church on Green Street, in Franklin Township, on Oct. 19, 2006, and removing a check which he placed in his checking account.In all three cases he was charged along with his cousin, John Joseph Petrovich, 35, of 120 Lentz Trail, Jim Thorpe. Petrovich cooperated with authorities in the cases and pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to serve nine to 23 months in prison. He has already completed his prison term.Griffith also has a big restitution bill to pay for the damages to the Christ Lutheran Church. Webb ordered he pay his share of the damages to the church, which were over $700,000.Defense Attorney John J. Waldron, of Allentown, told the court his client was ready to accept the punishment for what he did and get on with his life. He told Webb that after being arrested on the charges Griffith was involved in an automobile accident. A truck in which he was a passenger crashed and he suffered serious head trauma. He said Griffith was on life support for three months. He then suffered another incident of head trauma in an accident at his home.Griffith had filed a petition that he was not competent to stand trial due to the head injuries and loss of memory. Last December a hearing on the petition was held before the late Judge David W. Addy. After listening to almost four hours of testimony from two expert witnesses, one each called by the defense and commonwealth, Addy ruled Griffith was competent to stand trial.Waldron told Webb, "He offers no excuses for his actions and he accepts responsibility for what he did." Waldron asked Webb to impose the same sentence that Petrovich received.Griffith told Webb, "I'm ashamed of all that has happened and what I did. I want to move on with my life."Webb called the crimes senseless, especially the fire that destroyed the Christ Lutheran Church. He said a church becomes part of a person's life. They go to the church, they marry in the church, have children, who also attend the church.He added, "When a church is destroyed the memories of all those families who went there are lost forever. A new church does not replace the memories from the former church."Webb said it is obvious that restitution in full will never be paid by either defendant because of the amount involved.Assistant District Attorney Michael S. Greek, who prosecuted the case, said Griffith received a substantial settlement in a suit filed in the accident case, which is in a trust fund.Webb said that the commonwealth could proceed in the matter or that the insurance company involved with the church fire could go after Griffith in civil court.Griffith had pleaded to one count each of arson, burglary, institutional destruction of venerable objects and criminal trespass.The case has a long history in the system. There were 40 continuances granted through the course of the case.Petrovich pleaded to five criminal counts and was sentenced on Sept. 23, 2008. In addition to the jail term Petrovich was also ordered to serve five years of probation and make restitution of one half of the total.Webb ordered Griffith pay total restitution for the church fire in Penn Forest and the church break-in in Franklin of $390,520.50.Griffith was also ordered to get both a drug and alcohol and mental health evaluations and follow any recommendations for treatment, supply a DNA sample and pay the costs, zero tolerance imposed on D&A use, have no contact with his co-defendant and no contact with any of his victims or enter the property of his victims.Griffith was given credit for 332 days spent in prison to date on the charges.