A Carbon County man was sentenced to a state prison on Friday in the county court on forgery and related charges.

Ryan K. Kristiansen

, 30, of Jim Thorpe, was sentenced by Judge Steven R. Serfass to serve a total of 12 to 36 months in a state correctional institution on a charge of forgery and the same term on a theft count in a second case with the terms running concurrently.

He previously pleaded guilty to the charges.

On the forgery charge, state police at Lehighton charged on July 10, 2018, Kristiansen took checks from a Penn Forest Township resident and forged his name on them to get over $5,000. The theft count is for an Aug. 21, 2018, incident, filed by state police at Lehighton, in which Kristiansen was found in possession of stolen snowboards and snowboarding equipment.

Kristiansen told Serfass, “I’m looking forward to get the help I need.”

Kristiansen was going to apply for the state’s Intermediate Punishment program but cannot since that program was abolished in December 2019. A new program, similar to old IP, is scheduled to begin Feb. 15. Kristiansen was told if he still wants to enter the program he most apply for it when he is placed in the state prison system.

In addition to the jail term, Serfass ordered Kristiansen to make total restitution in the two cases of $8,935.78, zero tolerance for drug or alcohol use and pay court costs of about $1,000. An inmate in the county prison, he was given credit for 148 days already served on the charges.

False ID

Matthew E. Markley

, 30, of Bowmanstown, was placed on probation for a year on a charge of false identification to law enforcement. He was arrested on June 16, 2017, by Lehighton police following a traffic stop along Second Street. He provided a false name at the stop. He previously pleaded guilty to the charge.

He was also ordered to render 50 hours of community service, zero tolerance for drug and alcohol use, pay court costs of about $1,000 and pay a $50 per month supervision fee while on probation.