Lansford woman gets jail for break-in
A Lansford woman was given a short prison term on Monday for her part in a burglary in her hometown.
Janet Mary Martino, 45, was sentenced by Judge Joseph J. Matika to serve 30 days to one year in prison on charges of criminal trespass and theft, both felonies. She previously pleaded to the charges. The prison term was imposed on the trespass charge and one year probation on the theft count, with the terms running concurrently. Charges of burglary and related counts were dropped in a plea bargain.Before the sentence was imposed, Martino attempted to place the blame for the incident that on occurred on April 11, 2016, at a residence along East Bertsch Street, on her co-conspirators, all much younger than her. But Matika reminded her that when she entered her guilty plea, she admitted to taking some of the items removed from the home, which included electronic equipment. He also noted that at the time of her arrest, she told police she went to the residence looking to steal a clothes dryer but could not find one and helped in removing the other items.She claimed that she only "went along" with the others but did not actually carry any of the stolen items from the home. But Matika said the police report indicates she admitted to helping remove the items. She then claimed she was only saying that to protect the others who were with her, but Matika took issue with that statement, reminding her she never told her public defender that story before her guilty plea or mentioned it at her plea proceeding.In addition to the prison term, Matika ordered her to get both a drug and alcohol and mental health evaluations, zero tolerance for drug or alcohol use, render 50 hours of community service, pay court costs of $1,000, pay $50 per month supervision when paroled and supply a DNA sample.She will serve the prison term on consecutive weekends beginning June 2 at 7 p.m. She was given credit for one day spent in jail on the charges.