A Lehighton man was sentenced to a state prison term on Thursday after previously being convicted by a county jury of theft and receiving stolen property.

Dietrick Ryan Hosier, 25, was sentenced by Judge Joseph J. Matika to serve 21 to 48 months in a state correctional institution.Hosier was charged by Lehighton police for an incident on Oct. 17, 2013, in which a gun was stolen from a vehicle parked behind Mallard's Market along Second Street. Jason Green reported a Colt .380-caliber pistol was removed from his Jeep. The pistol was in the glove box of the vehicle. There was no forced entry to the Jeep.Green testified at the trial that the keys to the vehicle were in a back room of the market, where he was employed.At the trial officer Bruce Thomas Broyles testified he interviewed Judy Miller, another employee at the store, who said she observed Hosier in the store the day of the incident acting in a suspicious manner. She was familiar with Hosier, having had prior contact with him.She said she saw Hosier, who is not an employee, enter the market and go directly into a back room where the restrooms are located. She said she saw him exit that area and leave the market. She said Hosier was wearing a blue hooded sweater and dark-colored pants.Broyles viewed video footage from the store, which showed a male wearing a dark-colored hooded sweater and dark pants exiting from Green's Jeep parked in the rear employee lot area. Another camera showed a male wearing the same clothing exiting the north side of the market's vestibule. The same male was seen walking east through the market's north parking lot toward the employee lot.Miller was shown the video footage and said the male in it was wearing the same clothing she saw Hosier wearing the day of the incident.Broyles interviewed Hosier. Broyles said Hosier told him he did not remember the day in question clearly and added he was not at the market that day.Broyles also testified that through the course of the investigation he learned that Hosier attempted to sell a pistol matching the description of the one Green reported stolen to a borough resident but that person refused to buy it, being aware that it had been stolen.In January, Hosier filed an appeal of his conviction. Following a hearing, Matika denied the appeal.Hosier told the court, "I'm sorry for the two-day trial. I still maintain I'm innocent."Assistant District Attorney Cynthia Ann Dyrda Hatton, who successfully prosecuted the case, told Matika that Green was very upset about the weapon being stolen and the fact that it is still not recovered. She added, "I feel the defendant must be held accountable for his actions."In addition to the jail term, Matika ordered Hosier to get both a drug and alcohol and mental health evaluations, supply a DNA sample, pay court costs of about $1,000, make restitution of $500 to Green and have no contact with him.