A Lehighton man who robbed a bank in Mahoning Township and was nabbed about 10 minutes after the incident entered a guilty plea in Carbon County court last week and was sentenced to a state prison term.

Jody Lee Christman, 53, pleaded guilty to one count of robbery - demand money from a financial institution, a felony 2, before President Judge Roger N. Nanovic II and was sentenced to serve two to four years in a state correctional institution. The jail term will be followed by one year of probation.

The incident occurred on June 20, 2019, and Christman has been in the county prison since that date unable to post bail.

Christman was taken into custody about 10 minutes after he left the bank with cash. Police followed a transponder which was hidden among the cash.

According to police, a bank teller said a man came into the bank and handed her a handwritten note demanding money, as well as a shopping bag. The teller said she handed over all the money in the drawer and the GPS tracker, which was hidden in a stack of cut $20 bills.

Mahoning Township and Lehighton borough police responded after the GPS tracker activated. They tracked the device from Route 443 to Bridge Street, where they stopped a silver Dodge Stratus.

When the vehicle stopped moving, the GPS signal stopped moving as well.

Mahoning police detained the driver, who they recognized as Christman, and found a large amount of money in the pocket of his sweatpants. The GPS tracker was still embedded in one of the bill stacks.

Police then returned to the bank and reviewed surveillance footage. They said the footage clearly showed that Christman was the bank robber.

In addition to the jail term, Christman was ordered to pay court costs of about $1,000.

He was given credit for 451 days already served in prison on the charge.