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Bethlehem man gets state prison for retail thefts

A Bethlehem man was sentenced Tuesday in Carbon County Court to spend between 6 months and 3 years in state prison after pleading guilty to three retail thefts in the area.

Jesus Fonseca, 39, admitted to two thefts from Walmart and one from Lowe’s, both in Mahoning Township, over the past year. The incidents mark his 17 to 19 lifetime convictions for retail theft.

Prosecutors said Fonseca stole two speakers from Walmart on Dec. 6, 2022; an HP computer from Walmart on Jan. 10, 2023; and a generator from Lowe’s on Jan. 18, 2023.

All three retail theft charges were third-degree felonies.

“I did it to support my crack cocaine habit,” Fonseca told Common Pleas President Judge Roger Nanovic before sentencing. “It’s no excuse for what I did. I was chasing a high.”

Fonseca will be evaluated for eligibility into the state’s drug treatment program.

“I’m asking the court to get me some help,” he said.

His sentence in Carbon County will run consecutive to a 3-10 year sentence handed down in Northampton County in 2018, where he pleaded guilty to seven counts of retail theft and one count of theft by deception.