A number of defendants scheduled for preliminary hearings in the past two weeks before District Judge Colleen Mancuso, Monroe County, elected to make plea deals.

James Robert Keiper, 30, of 228 Fiddletown Road, Kunkletown, pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia, while a charge of possession of a controlled substance was dismissed. The charges were filed by state police trooper Daniel Nilon following a Feb. 6 incident.Keiper will be paying $665 in fines and court costs.Keiper was also in court on a case related to a Feb. 3 incident, also prosecuted by Nilon. In that case, he entered a guilty plea to a charge of theft by unlawful taking. A charge of unauthorized use of an access device was dismissed.In that case, Keiper will be paying $565 in fines and court costs.John Michael Valentine Jr., 44, of 100 Pocono Creek Drive, Stroudsburg, was found guilty on a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia in exchange for the dismissal of a charge of possession of a small amount of marijuana. The charges were filed by Nilon following a Feb. 9 incident.Valentine will be paying $615 in fines and court costs.Joel James Hernandez III, 29, of 251 Treetop Terrace, Stroudsburg, had charges of possession of drug paraphernalia dismissed while pleading guilty to a charge of possession of marijuana. Nilon filed the charges following a Jan. 18 incident.Hernandez will be paying $865 in fines and court costs.Bradley S. Flachek of Blairstown, N.J., spent his 25th birthday in court, agreeing to plead guilty to a charge of driving under the influence of a controlled substance. Charges of possession of a small amount of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and a number of traffic related offenses were dismissed. The charges were filed by trooper Michael Sofranko following a Sept. 11, 2013, incident.Flachek faces fines and court costs of $1,124.Joseph Daniel Iskra Jr., 26, of Brodheadsville, entered a guilty plea to a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia. Three additional possession charges were withdrawn by Nilon. The charges were from a May 4, 2013, incident.Jarred Matthew Dillman, 23, of Palmerton, pleaded guilty to a charge of DUI of a controlled substance, while traffic-related charges were withdrawn. The charges stem from a Sept. 18, 2013, incident and were filed by trooper Matthew Borger.Dillman will be paying $1,124 in fines and court costs.Michael Melascaglia, 36, of Kresgeville, waived his right to a preliminary hearing on charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. The charges were filed by trooper Christopher Tomlinson following an April 3, 2013, incident.Melascaglia was released on $5,000 unsecured bail.William E. Callaghan, 36, of Effort, also waived his hearing. He was charged with being involved in an accident involving damage to an attended vehicle, unsafely passing on the right, failure to drive at a safe speed, careless driving, and failure to stop and render information or aid. The charges stem from a March 20 accident and were filed by trooper Sean Munley.Callaghan was released on his own recognizance.Kimberly Ann Rich, 24, of Effort, waived a hearing on a charge of retail theft, filed by trooper Jeffrey Kreidler. The charge was filed following a March 7 incident.Rich was released on $5,000 unsecured bail.