A Schuylkill County woman, one of five arrested in connection with the operation of a methamphetamine lab in Lansford, was sentenced Monday to a state prison term in Carbon County court.

Judge Joseph J. Matika sentenced Jackie Slaven, 38, who formerly listed a Tamaqua address but now has one in New Philadelphia, to serve one to two years in a state correctional institution.Matika rejected a plea from Slaven and her attorney, court-appointed Mark Combi, to run the term concurrent with a three- to six-year state prison term imposed in Schuylkill County in September on drug-related charges. Matika ruled his sentence would run consecutive to the Schuylkill term.Slaven said she was a mother of five and always cared for her children despite "being high all the time." She claimed she participated in the meth lab not to sell drugs but to feed her own habit.She said her children were always first with her, and she made sure they got good grades in school. She said when she was involved in drugs it was "all about an addict looking out for herself."Matika, however, rejected Slaven's claim concerning the caring for the welfare of her children. He noted that after she was arrested for the Carbon incident, she was arrested in Schuylkill County for similar criminal activity."If your children were more of a priority to you, then why didn't you get help or stop after your arrest in this case?" Matika asked. He said her conduct in the Carbon case also endangered children. A young child was found in the home where the meth lab had been set up in Lansford. The child was not Slaven's.Slaven was arrested on May 19, 2013, after Lansford police and firefighters responded to 117 E. Patterson St. for an explosion and fire due to the operation of the meth lab.The day before the incident, Slaven was told by police they had a warrant for one of the other suspects in the case and told her if she saw him to report it to police. When police responded to the fire, they found the person they previously warned Slaven about in the home.She previously pleaded guilty in two cases arising from the incident. She pleaded to a felony count of criminal conspiracy-operating a methamphetamine lab, hindering apprehension, and endangering the welfare of children.Others involved in the case, who all previously pleaded guilty, were Kyle M. Frantz, 20, of Tamaqua and formerly of Lansford; Scott R. Frantz, 46, of Scranton; Tyler Mathew Strawdinger, 21, of Stroudsburg; and Kendra Crostley, 20, of Lansford. All the others have been sentenced.District Attorney Jean A. Engler said it was obvious that Slaven was minimizing her involvement in the case.In addition to the jail term, Matika ordered Slaven to get both drug and alcohol and mental health evaluations, zero tolerance for D&A use, supply a DNA sample, when released on parole render 50 hours of community service, and pay court costs of about $1,000. She was given credit for 24 days spent in jail on the charges.Slaven is currently an inmate at SCI-Muncy.