A Lehighton man was sentenced to a county prison term on Tuesday in Carbon County court after pleading guilty to a drug possession charge.

Thomas Anthony Weiss, 54, entered a plea to one count of possession of a controlled substance - methamphetamine filed by Lehighton police. In exchange for the plea, a charge of driving under the influence was dropped.

President Judge Roger N. Nanovic II, who accepted the plea, questioned Assistant District Attorney Seth Miller, the prosecutor in the case, why the DUI charge was dropped. Miller said the Commonwealth felt it would have a hard time proving the DUI count, among the reasons given, there was no testing done. The Lehighton police report indicated Weiss refused to submit to a blood test.

The case took a long time reaching a judge. Weiss was arrested on Aug. 27, 2019, with a total of 12 continuances in the case. It was also noted that Weiss is scheduled to enter a guilty plea to another DUI charge on Friday before Nanovic during DUI court.

Nanovic said the facts of the case warranted a prison term not probation, as requested by Weiss’ attorney, chief public defender Paul J. Levy.

Nanovic sentenced him to serve one to 12 months in prison, pay a fine of $500, get both drug and alcohol and mental health evaluations, pay court costs of over $1,000, pay a $50 per month supervision fee while on parole and zero tolerance imposed on drug or alcohol use.

Weiss will begin serving the prison term on Feb. 24 at 9 a.m. and serve it on consecutive, two-day weekends.