A Carbon County man with a prior criminal record dating back more than 20 years, was sentenced to a state prison term on Tuesday afternoon in the county court.

Judge Steven R. Serfass rejected a plea from Lawney Lee Strohl, 48, of Weissport, for a county prison term, stating, “County prison hasn’t served any rehabilitation results with you.”Serfass then imposed a total of nine to 60 months in a state correctional institution.Strohl previously pleaded to charges of escape and driving under suspension-DUI related. That incident occurred on May 22 in the 300 block of White Street in Weissport.Strohl, who was stopped by state police at Lehighton, fled the scene on foot into nearby woods. He was later found and taken into custody.On Tuesday, he entered a plea in another pending case to a charge of fraud altered/forged/counter title registration and driving under suspension-DUI related. He was arrested on Oct. 7, 2015, along Pine Hollow Drive by Mahoning Township police.Strohl asked for a county prison term, saying he wanted to stay close to his family and his children.Serfass, noting his arrest record fills almost three pages, asked, “Why did it take you this long to realize you want to be with your children?”Serfass said Strohl has been arrested numerous times over the years, and except for one state prison term in 1997, has been given county sentences.Serfass said it was apparent that county prison sentences have not done anything to rehabilitate the defendant. The judge said he considered everything said by Strohl, his court-appointed attorney Hollianne C. Snyder and what was contained in police reports and determined a state sentence was appropriate.In addition to the prison term, Serfass ordered Strohl to render 100 hours of community service when paroled, pay a fines totaling $1,000 on the two driving under suspension-DUI related counts, and pay court costs of about $1,000.He was given total credit of 88 days spent in jail on the charges.