A Carbon County driver admitted driving under the influence of a controlled substance with a child in his vehicle.

He was one of eight defendants in pending DUI cases to enter a guilty plea in Carbon County court before President Judge Roger N. Nanovic II Thursday during a day long court session.

Penn Forest incident

Christopher James Rhyder,

27, of Jim Thorpe, was stopped on Nov. 1, 2019, by state police at Fern Ridge along Route 902 in Penn Forest Township. Troopers responded to a report of a vehicle stopped along the road with the driver behind the wheel unconscious. A 3-year-old was found in the back seat. Rhyder was taken for a blood test, which revealed he had fentanyl in his system.

Rhyder also pleaded to one count of endangering the welfare of a child. It is Rhyder’s second DUI offense.

Nanovic deferred sentencing so Rhyder can apply for placement in the Restrictive Probation Program, formerly the Intermediate Punishment Program, or house arrest.

Other pleas

Bret Aaron Badellino,

29, of Orefield, Lehigh County, was arrested on Oct. 11, 2019, by Lehighton police after he was involved in an incident in which a pedestrian was struck, but not seriously injured. He pleaded to DUI of a controlled substance.

Sentencing was deferred so Badellino can obtain a drug and alcohol evaluation.

Jeffrey Espinal,

25, of Palmerton, was arrested on Aug. 13, 2019, by state police at Lehighton. At the stop troopers smelled marijuana. He pleaded to DUI of a controlled substance.

Sentencing was deferred so Espinal can obtain a D&A evaluation.

Phyllis A. Christman,

44, of Lehighton, was arrested on Dec. 6, 2019, by Lehighton police. A test revealed a 0.22 BAC.

A first offense, she was placed on probation for six months and ordered to pay a fine of $300 and zero tolerance imposed on drug or alcohol use.

Ronald J. Reed,

64, of Lehighton, was arrested on Nov. 10, 2018, by Lehighton police, who responded to a rollover crash. A test revealed a 0.29 BAC.

With the agreement of the district attorney’s office, Reed was placed on Restrictive Probation Program for 15 days with electronic monitoring, ordered to pay a fine of $500 and his license was suspended for a year. Under state guidelines he could have been sentenced to 48 hours in jail.

Terry A. Fisher,

38, of Kunkletown, was arrested on Jan. 18, 2019, by state police at Lehighton. Found at the stop was a small amount of marijuana, which he also pleaded to.

On the DUI count he was sentenced to serve 72 hours to six months in jail and ordered to pay a fine of $1,000, supply a DNA sample and his license was suspended for a year.

On the drug charge he was fined $100.

He will begin the jail term at 4:30 p.m. on June 12.

Stephen Wayne Gallagher,

36, of Lake Harmony, was arrested on Aug. 10, 2018, by Lehighton police. A test revealed a 0.23 BAC.

He was sentenced to serve 90 days to two years in jail, pay a fine of $2,500 and one-year license suspension. He was given credit for 125 days spent in jail on the charge and paroled.

Shannon Werner,

35, of Lehighton, was arrested on July 8, 2019, by Lehighton police. She pleaded to DUI of a controlled substance. An infant was found in the vehicle. She was originally charged with eight criminal counts, including endangering the welfare child. All were dropped in a plea deal with the DA’s office except the DUI and driving under suspension charge. In March she pleaded to another DUI in Lehigh County.

Nanovic sentenced her to serve 90 days to five years in jail, pay a fine of $1,500, license suspended for 18 months, render 100 hours of community service and supply a DNA sample. On the suspension count she was fined $200.

She was given credit for 17 days already spent in jail on the charges. She will begin serving the remaining 73 days on June 12 at 10 p.m. and serve it on consecutive two-day weekends.

Sentenced

Hilda L. Vargas,

34, of Allentown, was sentenced to serve 10 days to six months in jail, pay a fine of $1,000, license suspended for 18 months, zero tolerance for drug or alcohol use and render 100 hours of community service. She previously pleaded to a DUI count and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

When stopped on July 6, 2019, by state police at Lehighton she had three juveniles in the vehicle. A test revealed the presence of a controlled substance.

On the three welfare charges she was on probation for a year on each count, running concurrently to each other, but consecutive to the DUI charge.

She will begin serving her prison term on July 3 at 9 a.m. and serve it on consecutive two-day weekends.

Each defendant sentenced must also pay court costs of about $1,000, pay a $50 per month supervision fee while on parole/probation and follow any recommendation of their drug and alcohol evaluation.