Lehigh woman admits stealing at ski resort; others enter pleas
A Lehigh County woman admitted stealing at a Carbon County ski resort, while another woman, with a long history of thefts, also entered a guilty plea Thursday in Carbon County court.
They were among 10 defendants to enter pleas before President Judge Roger N. Nanovic II.Takes jacketJennifer Lynn Carr, 37, of Coopersburg, pleaded guilty to one count of receiving stolen property.State police at Lehighton arrested her for an incident at the Blue Mountain Ski Area in Lower Towamensing Township that occurred on Feb. 15. Taken was a snowboard and jacket belonging to a Brian V. Yang, who was a customer at the resort. She admitted her part in the theft of the jacket. Her son was also involved, troopers said.She recently spent two months in the Lehigh County prison on other theft charges and is currently on probation.Nanovic placed her on probation for 18 months and ordered her to get a mental health evaluation and follow any recommendation for treatment.The term runs consecutive to her current Lehigh County sentence.History of theftsLorene Marie Rice, 38, of Palmerton, pleaded to one count of retail theft, rated as a felony three because of other prior convictions.Rice was arrested on Feb. 20 by Palmerton police for an incident a the Rite Aid pharmacy along Delaware Avenue for taking various food items valued at $5.18.Nanovic, reviewing past criminal records, said, "You have a 20-year history of thefts starting in 1991." He also noted she spent 30 days in jail in 2011 for another retail theft. He then asked her, "Why didn't that wake you up?"She said she has been dealing with "pill" problems. Defense attorney Paul Levy, of the public defenders office, said his client has been prescribed pain pills and she had been overmedicating on them but now realizes her problem. He said she had finally taking steps to help herself.Nanovic sentenced her to serve 30 days to 18 months in prison, consecutive with any other sentence she is currently serving, and supply a DNA sample.Thomas M. Schaub, 36, of Lehighton, pleaded to one count each of criminal conspiracy-theft, and theft from a motor vehicle.He was arrested for an incident on May 30 along Little Gap Road in Lower Towamensing Township by state police at Lehighton. He admitted his part in a theft incident in which a cell phone and pieces of lumber were taken. He admitted taking the phone.Nanovic sentenced him to serve three to 12 months in the county prison on each count, running concurrently, and ordered he get a D&A evaluation, and make restitution of $76.98. He was given credit for 18 days spent in jail on the charges.He will begin the jail term at 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 28.Laura M. Smith, 52, of Palmerton, entered guilty pleas to one count each of persistent disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. A plea bargain in another pending case, involving charges of possession of drug paraphernalia, was dropped.She was arrested on Dec. 25, 2013, at her residence, 262 Columbia Ave., by Palmerton police, where she was involved in a domestic incident. After being arrested, she resisted officers' attempt to place her in a patrol car and kicked on officer, the police report stated.She told Nanovic she had been dealing with mental health issues and is receiving counseling.Nanovic placed her on probation for a year and ordered her to get both a drug and alcohol and mental health evaluations and continue attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. The sentence was imposed on each count, running concurrently.Kyle S. Scherer, 52, of Palmerton, pleaded to one count of retail theft as a summary offense. He was arrested on Sept. 13, 2013, at the Country Harvest store on Delaware Avenue by Palmerton police for taking $4.29 worth of merchandise.Nanovic imposed a fine of $100 and ordered restitution of $4.29.Joseph Murphy, 32, of Kunkletown, pleaded to one count of criminal conspiracy-theft. He was arrested by state police at Lehighton on Feb. 27 for stealing a log splitter from Harry Zizeclak at 415 Koch Road in Kunkletown. There is a co-defendant in the case.Murphy is currently serving a prison sentence in Northampton County.Nanovic placed him on probation for 18 months, consecutive to the Northampton term, and ordered he pay a fine of $500.Joseph Radecka, 51, of Lehighton, pleaded to one count of persistent disorderly conduct.He was arrested for an incident on Sept. 4, 2013, along Long Run Road in Franklin Township by state police at Lehighton.Troopers received a call of a person riding a bicycle erratically in the area and in danger due to traffic. Troopers then received a report that the person on the bike, later found to be Radecka, had fallen off the bike.Radecka was found by troopers and was intoxicated. He was originally charged with drunken driving, but that count was dropped.Nanovic sentenced him to 19 to 38 days in jail, with credit for 38 days already served, and paroled him.Nicole Marie Boyer Smith, 34, of Coaldale, and formerly of Jim Thorpe, pleaded to one count of theft of services as a felony three.She was charged by state police at Lehighton for receiving cable service from Blue Ridge Cable Company at a residence at 911 Route 903 in Penn Forest Township and not paying for it. She opened several accounts for cable service at that location using variations of her name, troopers said.She told Nanovic she has a history of mental health issues and is bipolar. She said she spent some time in a hospital for her mental health problems.Nanovic placed her on probation for 18 months and ordered her to make restitution to the cable company for $3,751.66 and supply a DNA sample. Nanovic said she must pay at least $50 per month on the restitution.Joshua Jeremy Strohl, 28, of Palmerton, pleaded to four counts of theft.He was arrested by state police at Lehighton for thefts at the Blue Mountain Ski Area in Lower Towamensing Township on Dec. 27, 2012. He entered a vehicle and took various items belonging to four victims.Nanovic deferred sentencing and ordered the adult probation office to prepare a presentence investigation report.Jimmy Joseph Woodby, 20, of Jim Thorpe, pleaded to two counts of theft and one of receiving stolen property in three pending cases with a fourth set of charges dropped in a plea bargain.He was charged by Jim Thorpe police with entering various vehicles in the area of North and Third streets, and taking items.Nanovic placed him on probation for a total of three years and ordered him to make restitution of $63.37.Each defendant sentenced must also pay court costs, which average about $1,000, and pay a $50 per month supervision fee while on probation or parole.