A number of defendants scheduled for preliminary hearings before District Judge Stephen Bayer of Tamaqua on May 3 walked out of court with their cases dismissed or withdrawn. One defendant failed to appear and had a warrant issued for her arrest while another had his case heard and held for trial in Schuylkill County court.

All of the other scheduled cases were waived directly to court.Cases were withdrawn against Tonya Braun, 24, of Tamaqua; Karlie S. Whispell, 19, of Tamaqua; Richard Lee Bealer, 34, of New Ringgold; Kristopher E. Quirk, 34, of Minersville; William Manness, 34, of Tamaqua; andChristina L. Kieffer, 28, formerly of Tamaqua. Charges were dismissed against Tiffany Pickett, 26, of Tamaqua.While Kieffer had one case withdrawn, she waived charges in two other cases. The first case was from Jan. 21, 2016, when she was charged with burglary, criminal trespass, theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property. The charges were filed by Coaldale Police, who withdrew the burglary charge.Bail was modified from $50,000 straight to $50,000 unsecured at her preliminary hearing.The second case was also brought by Coaldale police and included charges of making a false report to incriminate another and possession of drug paraphernalia. The charges were filed after a Feb. 7 incident.Kieffer was released on her own recognizance.April L. McGeehan, 28, of Coaldale, didn't appear for her hearing on charges of retail theft, receiving stolen property, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. The charges were filed by Rush Township police in connection with a Feb. 27 incident.Bo Victor Reed, 24, of Thomastown had charges of driving under the influence and driving without a valid inspection held over for court after his hearing. The charges were filed by Tamaqua police after a Jan. 24 incident.He was released on his own recognizance.Jesse Michael Lincovich, 34, of Mahanoy City had two cases scheduled for court, waiving both. On Feb. 7, he was charged with retail theft, receiving stolen property, three counts of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. On Feb. 21, he was charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. Both cases were filed by Tamaqua police.Bail in the first case was set at $10,000 percentage, while he was released on his own recognizance on the second case.Joseph Robert Holland, 34, of Mahanoy City, also had two cases scheduled in Bayer's court. On Jan. 19, he was charged with issuing a bad check by Tamaqua police. On April 6, Holland was charged with retail theft, receiving stolen property and driving with a revoked license by Rush Township police. He was released on his own recognizance in the Tamaqua case and posted bail ($5,000 percentage) in the Rush case.Paul Ford, 34, of Tamaqua, waived charges of indecent assault, indecent assault on a person younger than 16 and corruption of minors. The charges were filed by Tamaqua police after a Jan. 1 incident.He was released on $25,000 unsecured bail.Jason Robert Stephens, 21, of Tamaqua, waived a hearing on charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. The charges stem from a Dec. 31, 2015, incident and were filed by Tamaqua police.He was released on his own recognizance.Kelly Jo Greim, 20, of Tamaqua, waived a hearing on charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. The charges were filed by Tamaqua police after a March 4 incident.She was released on her own recognizance.Richard M. Bonney Jr., 37, of Freeland, waived a hearing on charges of retail theft, receiving stolen property and driving with a suspended license. The charges were filed by Rush Township police after an Oct. 11, 2015, incident.Bail was set at $500 percentage, which he was able to post.Timothy Falu, 20, of Lansford, waived a hearing on charges of retail theft, retail theft/destroying an inventory control device and driving without a license. The charges stem from a Jan. 19 incident and were filed by Rush Township police.He was released on his own recognizance.Amber Louise Faust, 28, of Schuylkill Haven, waived a hearing on charges of retail theft and receiving stolen property, filed by Rush Township police. The charges stem from an incident on Feb. 9.She was released on her own recognizance.