A Carbon County woman was sentenced to a long county prison term on Monday in the county court on a drug dealing charge.

Brenda Louise Balak, 51, of Palmerton was sentenced by Judge Steven R. Serfass to serve nine to one day less 24 months in the county prison followed by one year of probation on a charge of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. On a charge of access device fraud she was placed on probation for 24 months, consecutive to the drug charge.Balak previously pleaded guilty to the charges, but the case took a long time coming to the sentencing day. A total of 27 continuances were granted in the case due to continuing health problems of the defendant.On Monday defense counsel Matthew J. Mottola, of the public defender office, asked Serfass to sentence his client to house arrest because of continuing health problems.He related that Balak suffered from diabetes and also has had heart problems, including three prior heart attacks. The continuances were granted while she addressed those problems.Balak told Serfass, "I appear very humble. I'm scared." She also spoke of her health problems and said, "I know I done wrong, absolutely. I know I must suffer the consequences." She also asked for placement in the county's Intermediate Punishment Program with electronic monitoring.District Attorney Jean A. Engler told the court that IPP was not part of the original plea agreement, in which other drug counts were dropped, and felt the prison personnel was adequately trained to handle the medications Balak needed to take.Serfass said the charges filed in the case could have easily meant a state prison term, based on sentencing guidelines.He said he had to balance the defendant's needs with the impact of what she did on the community. He said he did not think IPP placement was appropriate in the case.He said, "We take this type of conduct very seriously."Balak was arrested on the drug charge by agents of the state attorney general's office and county drug task forced after she made two sales of drugs in January 2011.The access device fraud charge stemmed from an incident in which she illegally used the credit card of Angela McCormick, when she took it from her purse and used it to make purchases at the Walmart store in Mahoning Township on or about Aug. 19, 2011.In addition to the jail term, Balak was ordered to make restitution of $684.02, render a total of 250 hours of community service when released on parole, get a drug and alcohol evaluation and follow any recommendation for treatment, zero tolerance imposed on D&A use, pay court costs of about $1,000, pay a $50 per month supervision fee while on parole and probation, and supple a DNA sample.She will begin the jail term at 9 a.m. Monday.