The long arm of the law caught up with a Mahanoy City man who burglarized a borough restaurant in 1998. Ralph W. Becker was found serving a 10 year term in the Mississipi State Correction Penitentiary.

A video conference was set up with Schuylkill County Judge John E. Domalakes holding court in the video room at the courthouse in Potttsville and Becker, accompanied by an attorney, was in the television room at the prison in Mississippi. The setup saved the county a great deal of money to have Becker brought to the county to be sentenced.Becker pleaded guilty to burglarizing the Lucas Family Restaurant, 52 S. Main St., on Feb. 28, 1998. He was sentenced by Domalakes to serve six to 12 months with the sentence to run concurrent with the sentence he now is serving in Mississipi. He was also ordered to make restitution of $620.25 to Yvonne Lucas and Kathy Uber. In Mississippi he was found guilty by a jury of charges driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol, being a habitual offender of the state's motor vehicle code and possession of controlled substance.He also pleaded guilty to retail theft from Biho Market, Shenandoah, and received a six to 12 months concurrent sentence and on a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia was sentenced to serve five and one-half to 11 months also to run concurrent to the burglary sentence.Drug caseRuben Valerio Mendez, 41, of Shenandoah, who was found guilty by a jury last June 7 of two counts of delivery of a controlled substance in Shenandoah was sentenced Tuesday by Domalakes to serve 24 to 48 months in a state correctional institution. Also, a detainer was executed to have him exported as an illegal immigrant.He also was ordered to pay $200 to the Substance Abuse Education fund, $50 to the Criminal Justice Enhancement Accout and make restituiton of $160 to the Schuylkill County Drug Task Force, $226 to Bethlehem Regional Lab, $218 for expert witness fee and a fine of $50 and costs of prosecution.