Defendants in pending cases entered pleas before Judge Joseph J. Matika.

BB gun incidentAustin Joe Miller, 21, of Lehighton, pleaded guilty to one count of simple assault.He admitted shooting a 13-year-old male with a BB gun on May 29, 2015, on S. First Street in Lehighton.Court-appointed defense counsel Carole Wildoner Walbert told the court the BB gun was actually a "soft gun" - the type that uses plastic bullets, not pellets as a regular BB gun would use.Matika placed him on probation for a year and ordered he render 25 hours of community service.Domestic assaultElizabeth Catherine Stevens, 38, of Nesquehoning, pleaded to one count of simple assault.She was arrested on Dec. 17, 2016, by state police at Lehighton for assaulting a man at on Lauchnor Grove Lane, in East Penn Township. At the time he was her boyfriend. Also present during the incident were his two children, ages 3 and 4.Stevens told the court she was depressed and having a hard time handling the death of her brother. She said she went to her boyfriend's home for help, but added, "that was a mistake." She said she is currently receiving counseling for her problems.Matika placed her on probation for a year and ordered her to get a mental health evaluation, render 50 hours of community service and have no contact with the victim.Fake stickerJohn Thomas Shubeck, 50, of Lansford, pleaded to a charge of fraud or altered, forged, counterfeit title registration on a vehicle. He was arrested on Nov. 18, 2016, by Lansford police in the area of Abbott and Springgarden streets. Police stopped Shubeck, knowing his license was under suspension, and learned at the stop he altered the registration sticker on the vehicle.Shubeck got a break when the commonwealth agreed to drop a driving without a license charge. It was noted Shubeck has 26 prior convictions for driving with a suspended license.Matika placed him on probation for a year and ordered he render 50 hours of community service.Other pleasChristina L. Samoleski, 38, of Coaldale, pleaded to one count of disorderly conduct, as a summary offense, with a charge of forgery dropped in a plea agreement. The plea agreement called for Samoleski to pay back $1,625.27 in the incident in which she forged a check and cashed it at the Jim Thorpe Neighborhood Bank in Lansford on Dec. 3, 2015. She paid the money Tuesday to the collections office.Matika, as part of the agreement, imposed a fine of $200.Janet Mary Martino, 35, of Lansford, pleaded to one count of criminal trespass, a felony two. In exchange for the plea, burglary and other related counts were dropped.She was charged by Lansford police for her part in an illegal entry on E. Bertsch Street, on April 11, 2016, in which CDs were removed from the property.Matika deferred sentencing and ordered the adult probation office to prepare a presentence investigation report.Robin Scott Rhyder, 53, of Lehighton, pleaded guilty to two dog law violations, letting his dogs run loose. The charges stem from an incident on July 18, 2016, filed by state police at Lehighton. Two dogs belonging to Rhyder entered the property of a neighbor and attacked turkeys the neighbor was raising.Rhyder said he has paid more than $1,000 in fees to date and also replaced the turkeys that were injured.Matika imposed total fines of $200. Another case, similar to the first involving the dogs running free, was dropped in a plea agreement.Shawn Guschel, 37, of Tresckow, pleaded to one count of a bad check.He admitted giving a check to JC Small Engines, of Weatherly, which was returned for insufficient funds.Guschel is currently an inmate in the state correctional institution at Coal Township, serving a two- to five-year term.Matika placed him on probation for a year and ordered he make restitution of $1,060 to the victim and have no contact with the victim. The term runs concurrent with his state sentence.All defendants sentenced must also pay court costs of about $1,000 and a $50 per month supervision fee while on probation or parole.