An Effort man will serve 18 months on probation and contribute 75 hours of work to a cemetery or veterans organization as punishment for stealing 17 veterans' markers, a cemetery vase and a plaque from St. John's Union Church Cemetery in Mahoning Township on Nov. 20, 2015.

James R. Keiper, 33, was also ordered to pay a total of $2,223 in restitution.Carbon County Court Judge Joseph J. Matika, who sentenced Keiper on Thursday, also ordered him to undergo a drug and alcohol evaluation.Keiper in July pleaded guilty to one count each of theft and institutional vandalism.Assistant District Attorney Michael S. Greek said a victim impact statement by one of the families whose father's marker was stolen "lost their trust in people" as a result. The family, Greek said, asked for jail time and community service to be performed for a veterans' group.Keiper said he was working to better himself. He now plays an active role in his children's lives, and is a productive employee."I'm doing what I can to not take steps backward," he told Matika.Keiper told the judge that at the time, "work slowed down" and he started spending time with "friends who were not the best influence."One of those friends, Edward M. Mackerley, 32, of Lehighton, was the one who persuaded him to steal the markers, Keiper said.Mackerley pleaded to one count each of criminal conspiracy-theft and conspiracy-institutional vandalism in July.At the time, he was serving 14 to 48 months in a state prison.Matika in July sentenced Mackerley to serve six to 24 months in a state prison, consecutive to his current state term, on the theft charge and one to 24 months on the institutional vandalism count, concurrent with the other sentences. He was also ordered to perform 75 hours of community service when released on parole, pay restitution of $2,620 and pay about $1,000 in court costs.Six of the markers were never found; the vase and the plaque were both damaged.