Carbon County court

Two defendants in pending criminal cases entered guilty pleas on Carbon County court on Monday and both are seeking placement in a special state prison program. Both appeared before Judge Joseph J. Matika.

Five cases

Steven P. Brownmiller, 56, of Lehighton, pleaded guilty in five pending cases to two counts of burglary and one count each of criminal trespass, resisting arrest and receiving stolen property.

The burglary charges stem from incidents on Oct. 11, 2018, in Lehighton, when he broke into the Kia dealership, then near the intersection of routes 443 and 209. The second burglary occurred on March 27 filed by state police at Lehighton for entry into the Faith Alive Church, along Pine Street in Bowmanstown. The trespass charge was for an incident on May 16, 2018, filed by Mahoning Township police at a residence along Mahoning Mountain Road. The receiving count was for an incident on Oct. 5, 2017, on property of the Norfolk Southern Railroad in a railroad yard in Lehighton in which phone equipment was taken. The resisting arrest occurred on April 18 in Lehighton along Cypress Street when police tried to take him into custody on a warrant.

DUI count

Kyle Kubin, 36, of Weissport, pleaded to one count of driving under the influence of a controlled substance for an incident on May 24 along Pine Street in Nesquehoning. Kubin previously pleaded to other criminal charges and was sentenced to a state prison term.

Both, currently inmates in the county prison, will now be transferred to a state correctional institution to be evaluated for the state intermediate punishment program.

The program is for two years and includes about seven months in a state prison followed by a period of time in an intensive drug and alcohol rehabilitation program in the state prison and then release to a halfway house. If either is rejected for the program, they will be brought back to the county court and sentenced on the charges.