A Carbon County man entered guilty pleas in county court on Tuesday admitting to charges of stalking, aggravated assault by vehicle and terroristic threats, all the result of domestic issues involving his estranged wife, and was sentenced to a prison term.

Troy D. Kuntzman, 44, of Lehighton, who also listed a Palmerton address, entered his pleas before Judge Joseph J. Matika for incidents that occurred on April 6, Aug. 11 and 17, 2019, filed by state police at Lehighton. The incidents occurred at a residence along Penn Drive in Towamensing Township.

In the April incident, troopers were dispatched to an active domestic at the Penn Drive address. Three victims, a 38-year-old woman and two men, ages 43 and 76, all from Lehighton, said Kuntzman tried to strike one of the men with his Dodge Ram truck. Kuntzman grabbed the woman, who was eight months pregnant, by the throat, slammed her off the porch, and held her against the house with both hands around her throat. Kuntzman grabbed her by both arms while she was calling 911 and grabbed the phone out of her hand and smashed it on the ground. At that point, the male victim and a neighbor came back and Kuntzman tried to strike the neighbor with his pickup. The man ran to a neighbor’s house and called 911.

The neighbor threw a rock at Kuntzman, who got out of the truck and said, “This is going to be fun.” He punched the neighbor in the face with a closed fist, knocking him to the ground. Kuntzman continued to punch the neighbor while on the ground about 15 to 20 more times, causing severe swelling of both of the neighbors’ eyes.

The female victim said that she pulled Kuntzman off the neighbor, and he fled the residence.

While being interviewed, one of the men received a text message from Kuntzman’s phone number that said, “Run and hide because when I find you, you’re dead.”

During the fight, damaged property included an Apple 6 iPhone with a black case, which sustained $500 in damages; $500 in damages to a bush in front of the residence; and $400 in damages to a concrete bench with wooden boards.

The two incidents in August also occurred at the Penn Drive address with his wife the victim.

Kuntzman, who has been an inmate in the county prison on the charges and who appeared via video from the jail, told the court, “I never thought it would get to this. I’m sorry for all of it.”

Matika sentenced him to serve a total of one day less 12 to one day less 24 months in the county prison followed by three years of probation. He was also ordered to get a mental health evaluation and follow any recommendation for treatment, render 100 hours of community service, supply a DNA sample, stay off the Penn Drive property, have no contact with any of the victims, pay court costs of about $1,000, make restitution of $640 and pay a $50 per month supervision fee while on parole and probation.

He will not be spending any more time in prison as he was given credit for 366 days already served. Matika said he won’t be released until the adult probation office conducts a pre-parole release investigation to determine where Kuntzman will be living.