Carbon County court
Two Carbon County residents recently entered guilty pleas in the county court in pending criminal cases and were sentenced to prison terms.
Insurance fraud
Joshua Peter Correll, 36, of Albrightsville, pleaded guilty to one count of workers’ compensation fraud, a felony 3.
Correll was charged by the Attorney General’s office for an incident occurring around June 13, 2011.
Correll was scheduled to go on trial on Oct. 2, 2018, but failed to appear for the trial. A jury was picked on Oct. 1 before Judge Steven R. Serfass. But when it was time to start the trial, Correll failed to appear. Serfass gave his court-appointed attorney until 9 a.m. on Oct. 3 to have his client appear. Correll failed to appear, and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest and the jury was dismissed.
Correll was sought for months and finally taken into custody on the warrant earlier this year.
Serfass accepted the plea and sentenced Correll to serve 12 to one day less 24 months in the county prison. Following the prison term Correll will serve 60 months probation. He was also ordered to get a drug and alcohol evaluation and follow any recommendation for treatment and when paroled render 100 hours of community service, submit a DNA sample, pay court costs of about $1,000 and pay a $50 per month supervision fee while on parole and probation. He was given credit for 142 days already served on the sentence.
Mischief count
Anthony J. Demeo, 51, Jim Thorpe, was scheduled for trial this week but instead entered into a plea bargain with the district attorney’s office and pleaded to one count of criminal mischief. In exchange for the plea charges of theft of services, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property and theft by deception were dropped.
Jim Thorpe police charged Demeo for an incident on or about Oct. 1, 2017. Police said Demeo tapped into the water supply line of another residence along Race Street to secured water service without paying a fee.
Serfass sentenced him to serve 45 to 90 days in jail with credit for 90 days already served, a paroled. He was also ordered to pay court costs of about $1,000.
