Twelve first time offenders in the criminal justice system were placed in Carbon County's Accelerated Rehabilitation Dispositon (ARD) probation program on Thursday.

If a person successfully completes all conditions of the program their record is wiped clean. However, if a person fails to complete the program or is revoked from it, the Commonwealth reserves the right to prosecute them on all pending charges. A person does not admit guilty in entering the program.All were placed for a year, unless otherwise noted.Placed by President Judge Roger N. Nanovic II were:Katelynn Rose Bear, 21, of Lehighton, was placed on a charge of possession of a small amount of marijuana. She was arrested on Aug. 28, 2009, by state police at Lehighton along SR443.She was ordered to pay $350 for the cost of the program, get a drug and alcohol (D&A) evaluation and follow any recommendation for treatment, and render 15 hours of community service.Gary J. Exner, 25, of Jim Thorpe, was placed in the program on a charge of driving under the influence (DUI). He was arrested on Aug. 30, 2009, along Blakeslee Blvd., in Mahoning Township. Given a test, the result was .13BAC.He was ordered to pay $400 for the cost of the program, get a D&A evaluation, make restitution for damages (caused in an accident) to be determined by the probation office, and license suspended for 60 days.Peter Carlo Shlanta, 46, of Tamaqua, was placed on a charge of DUI. He was arrested on Oct. 16, 2009, along Broadway, in Jim Thorpe. Given a test, the result was .18BAC.He was ordered to pay $450 for the cost of the program, get a D&A evaluation, render 18 hours of community service and license suspended for 60 days.Placed by Senior Judge Richard W. Webb were:Terry L. Ahner, 55, of Lehighton, was placed on a charge of DUI. He was arrested on Feb. 16 along Fairyland Rd., in Franklin Township. Given a test, the result was .22BAC.He was ordered to pay $450 for the cost of the program, get a D&A evaluation and license suspended for 60 days.Clark L. Burger Jr., 29, of Palmerton, was placed on a DUI charge. He was arrested on Feb. 13, by state police at Lehighton along Trachsville Hill Rd., in Towamensing Township. Given a test, the result was .15BAC.He was ordered to pay $400 for the cost of the program, get a D&A evaluation and license suspended for 30 days.Josh Frank Christman, 28, of Lehighton, was placed for two years on a burglary charge. He was arrested on Oct. 9, 2009, at Beltzville Storage in Franklin Township.He was ordered to pay $500 for the program, make restitution of $600 and render 30 hours of community service.William Benjamin Fitzgerald, 29, of Albrightsville, was placed on a DUI charge. He was arrested on Feb. 15 along Meckesville Rd., in Penn Forest Township. Given a test, the result was .21BAC.He was ordered to pay $450 for the cost of the program, get a D&A evaluation and license suspended for 60 days.Larry Lee Keller Jr., 35, of Lehighton, was placed on a DUI charge. He was arrested on Feb. 27 along Church Rd., in Franklin Township. Given a test, the result was .11BAC.He was ordered to pay $400 for the cost of the program, get a D&A evaluation and license suspended for 30 days.Cynthia Eileen Mahar, 49, of New Tripoli, Lehigh County, was placed on a DUI charge. She was arrested on Oct. 25, 2009, along Forest Inn Rd., in Towamensing Township. Given a test, the result was .16BAC.She was ordered to pay $400 for the cost of the program, get a D&A evaluation and license suspended for 30 days.Amanda Cathleen Petaccio, 18, of Albrightsville, was placed on a charge of possession of a controlled substance-marijuana. She was arrested on May 1 along SR209 in Jim Thorpe.She was ordered to pay $350 for the cost of the program, get a D&A evaluation, submit to random testing and render 15 hours of community service.Joseph A. Shuman, 21, of Tobyhanna, was placed on a charge of possession and use or display of documents. He was arrested on Nov. 15, 2009, along Center Rd., in Mahoning Township.He was ordered to pay $500 for the cost of the program and render 15 hours of community service.Cheryl M. Tucker, 37, of Auburn, Schuylkill County, was placed on a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia. She was arrested on June 23, 2009, along Laurel St., in Jim Thorpe.She was ordered to pay $500 for the cost of the program, get a D&A evaluation and render three hours of community service for each month she is in the program.Each defendant must also pay court costs and $50 per month supervision fee while in the program.