A Carbon County man, who previously pleaded guilty to three drug-dealing charges and one count of drug possession, was sentenced last week in the county court to a state prison term.

Duane Eric Bonetsky, 56, of Lehighton, was sentenced by President Judge Roger N. Nanovic II to serve a total of one to two years in a state correctional institution on three counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance.

Bonetsky was first arrested on May 17, 2017, by Lehighton police after he sold methamphetamine to another person. His second arrest occurred on July 6, 2018, also in Lehighton, for another sale of meth. The third was on July 19, 2018, filed again by Lehighton police for an incident where police responded to a welfare check at the Gypsy Hill Garden Apartments and found drugs in the apartment, which led to the possession charge. The final arrest occurred on Oct. 25, 2018, filed by Lehighton police for another meth sale.

Bonetsky said he had a drug addiction problem and addressed it since his arrest by going and successfully completing an inpatient drug rehabilitation program run by the Salvation Army. He spent 195 days in the program.

He told Nanovic that he started using drugs at age 13, marijuana, and gradually went on to heroin and finally methamphetamine.

Nanovic noted that Bonetsky has an extensive criminal record and noted state sentencing guidelines for the PWID cases call for a state prison term.

In addition to the jail term, Nanovic ordered Bonetsky to get both a drug and alcohol and mental health evaluations and supply a DNA sample and pay court costs of about $1,000.

Bonetsky requested a delay in the start of his prison term, but that was rejected when Nanovic learned that the sheriff’s department was going to serve a domestic relations arrest warrant on him. He was taken into custody.