Carbon County court

Two defendants in pending criminal cases entered guilty pleas on Tuesday afternoon in Carbon County court and will apply for placement in a special state prison program for drug or alcohol addicts.

President Judge Roger N. Nanovic II accepted the pleas.

Seven cases

Kyle Robert Kubin, 36, of Weissport, pleaded in seven pending cases to one count each of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, resisting arrest, simple assault, defiant trespass, possession of a controlled substance and escape and three counts of possession of drug paraphernalia.

He was arrest on the possession with intent charge on Feb. 6, 2018, by Lehighton police in the area of the Carbon Mini Mart along Iron Street, after a controlled buy was made by a confidential informant. The resisting arrest occurred on Jan. 19 when Lehighton police responded to the Gypsy Hill Apartments for an unwanted person. Kubin resisted officers when they attempted to take him into custody.

The simple assault occurred on May 7 in Lehighton and involved an officer of the borough force during a traffic stop. When the officer told Kubin to turn off the engine to the vehicle, he began to back up. The officer reached in the vehicle to turn off the ignition switch and Kubin began to drive forward, rolling up the window on the vehicle and dragging the officer with him until the officer was able to free himself. That incident also led to the escape charge.

The drug possession count occurred on March 23 in Lehighton in the 300 block of North Third Street where officers responded to a crash scene in which Kubin was a driver and heroin/fentanyl was found. The defiant trespass occurred on Sept. 24, 2017, at a residence along North Third Street in Lehighton when officers responded to a report of an unwanted male in a residence. A burglary charge was dropped in a plea bargain.

Nanovic deferred sentencing and said an order will be issued to transfer Kubin, who is an inmate in the county prison, to a state correctional institution to be evaluated for the state Intermediate Punishment Program.

The program includes a defendant serving seven months in a state prison, followed by a period of time in an intensive drug and alcohol rehabilitation program in the prison followed by time in a halfway house.

Theft incident

Christopher Rivera, 36, of Long Pond, pleaded to one count of theft, as a felony.

He admitted accepting a check from a Penn Forest Township couple to do remodeling/construction work at their home. The check was issued in July but no work was ever done by Rivera. State police at Fern Ridge were notified and filed the charges. The check was for $10,000 and made out to Rivera’s girlfriend, Christina Acevedo. When interviewed, Acevedo told troopers the money was spent on other home projects, her children and food.

After accepting the plea, Nanovic deferred sentencing. Rivera, who is an inmate in the Monroe County prison, has a criminal charge in that county that must be taken care of before he can be transferred to a state prison for evaluation for the state IPP.