A Franklin Township kennel owner charged with theft by deception and receiving stolen property is headed back to court.

A preliminary hearing on the second round of charges for Patricia E. Gadaleta was held Monday before District Judge Bruce Appleton of Palmerton.The owner of Musket Labradors, Gadaleta, 51, of 974 Pohopoco Drive, Lehighton, was charged in September after state police at Lehighton were notified that she had passed numerous bad checks to Cheri and Kevin Conway of Klamath Falls, Oregon, for two purebred Labrador Retrievers that she purchased from the couple. Cheri is the owner of Thornwood Labrador Retrievers.The Conways were present and Cheri testified at Gadaleta's first hearing before Appleton last month.On Monday, Sharene Greer Clark of California testified that in August of 2006, she and her husband Dan Clark were contacted by a woman who identified herself as Marianne Tiela, and expressed interest in co-owning one of their show dogs; specifically, the stolen dog, Lexy.Lexy was supposed to be co-owned by Marianne's daughter, Rose Tiela, Sharene Greer Clark said."She would call and tell me her husband had been killed in a car accident and she needed something to look forward to," Clark said. "I started feeling bad for her."Sharene Greer Clark said the couple agreed to sell the dog to Marianne Tiela, and that Dan Clark would remain co-owner. The price of co-ownership was $1,600, and the total value of the dog was $3,200.The dog was to be restricted for breeding purposes, and was only to be used for showing by the junior handler identified as Rose Tiela."All of our agreements were verbally done over the telephone," Sharene Greer Clark said. "The cost was $1,600 that we agreed to sell Lexy for, which was half of what we were asking for, and she was going to send us $800 for the first payment."However, the Clarks shipped the dogs and never received a payment, Sharene Greer Clark said.The prosecution then called Pennsylvania State Trooper Nicholas De La Iglesia, the investigating officer on the East Coast, to the stand.De La Iglesia testified that the contact information provided by the woman who identified herself as Marriane included an address of 78 Whitehall Road, Pittstown, NJ, along with a telephone number that corresponded with the cell phone of Gadaleta.De La Iglesia said Sharene Greer Clark contacted State Police at Lehighton about the theft on Sept. 26. Kennel records previously obtained from the Gadaleta residence/commercial kennel included the American Kennel Club registration of Lexy, De La Iglesia said.The record of the transfer on the back of the AKC registration indicated Lexy was intended to be co-owned by Rose Tiela, but had not been completed, he said. Also, professional photographs of the Lexi were discovered in the kennel records, De La Iglesia said.Before being shipped, Lexy was implanted with an AVID microchip, De La Iglesia said. Sharene Greer Clark was able to provide documentation of the microchip and its specific number, he said.The dog was also identified by its AKC registered name of Everwood Chance to Dance, and its call name at the time of sale was Lexy, De La Iglesia said.In addition, he said several dogs which were identified as an offspring from Lexy were discovered at Gadaleta's residence. In all, there were about 106 Labrador Retrievers on the property, De La Iglesia said."She was married to an Anthony Gadaleta who resided there, still resides there," De La Iglesia said. "I was not aware of any daughter."The prosecution then called Annette Hoffman, PSPA Law Enforcement Officer, to the stand.Hoffman testified that on Sept. 29, she went to the property to do an investigation. On Sept. 25, Hoffman said she met with Gadaleta at the Carbon County Correctional Facility.At that time, Hoffman said she asked Gadaleta if she was willing to surrender over the animals."She refused to surrender all but about 30 of the animals," Hoffman said. "She made a list of the ones she wanted to keep, and one of them was Lexy."Hoffman said Gadaleta told her there were "three dogs that were Lexy pups." Hoffman said that Gadaleta told her that "Lexy never had any pups, but that those puppies belonged to another Lexy, who she never mentioned."Appleton then granted the prosecution's request to have the count of theft by deception, as well as the count of receiving stolen property, amended from a third degree felony to a first degree misdemeanor. The two charges of deception or fraudulent business practices were withdrawn.Appleton then ruled that Gadaleta's case be referred to the Carbon County Court of Common Pleas, where a pretrial will be held at 9 a.m. Jan. 4Gadaleta has been sent back to the Carbon County Correctional Facility in lieu of $30,000, 10-percent bail.This was the second of five charges that Gadaleta faces in regard for purchasing dogs using an alias name and not paying for them.Other victims include Michelle Marie Veucasovic of Michigan, Belquest Kennels and Cattery of Maryland, and Katie Somers of Washington state.Since Gadaleta's arrest, the Carbon County Animal Response Team had been on scene caring for the purebred dogs until arrangements could be made. All dogs were removed the property in October and taken to rescue shelters, where they were cared for and put up for adoption.