Carbon man gets prison term after pleading to robbery, other counts

A Carbon County man was sentenced to a county prison term on Friday after pleading guilty to a charge of criminal conspiracy-robbery and other counts in five pending criminal cases.

Coty Frank, 25, of Nesquehoning, was sentenced by Judge Joseph J. Matika to serve one day less 12 to one day less 24 months in prison on the robbery count plus four counts of possession of drug paraphernalia and one each of theft, driving under suspension and accidents involving damage to property. The jail term will be followed by one year of probation.

The robbery charge stems from an incident on Dec. 3, 2016, at the Turkey Hill in Nesquehoning.

Borough police charged Frank, and the clerk working at the store at the time, Kyle Tetreault, with the robbery.

Frank told police that Tetreault recognized him during the course of the theft, but that the clerk let him go through with the robbery because Frank agreed to pay him off.

Police were initially called to the Turkey Hill on West Catawissa Street around 3 a.m. Tetreault provided a description of the robber, who was a white man wearing all black, a black ski mask and red gloves.

Tetreault told police that the robber showed him a gun and ordered him to “put the money in the bag and no funny business.” He then demanded cigarettes, which Tetreault told police he retrieved from the back room.

The robber then left out of the back of the store.

Police searched a home where Frank was staying in December, finding a pair of gloves and shoes identified as those used in the robbery.

Frank denied involvement until he was arrested on Feb. 14, 2017, after stealing a vehicle in an unrelated incident.

He told police that he used a plastic gun in the robbery and that Tetreault recognized who he was.

Frank said that he told Tetreault that he would pay him if he didn’t say anything.

Frank said that after leaving the store he took the cash and cigarettes to a home in Coaldale.

In the vehicle theft and hit-and-run crash that Frank was involved in on Feb. 14 in the area of West Railroad Street, Frank hit a 2008 silver Pontiac G6 and fled the scene.

Frank pleaded guilty for the theft of vehicle incident which also included the accidents to damage vehicle count, and theft charge. The drug arrests occurred on Oct. 1, 2017, following a vehicle stop by Summit Hill police which also led to the suspension charge; on Nov. 20, 2017, by Lansford police; and on Jan. 3 again by Lansford police.

Frank told Matika, “I know I have a lot of problems. I’m going to try to get out of the area.” He said he would like to move to the York area where he had lived some time ago.

Matika said although Frank said he is drug-free, he noted it was “forced sobriety” because he has been in jail since February 2017 on the charges.

In addition to the jail term, Matika ordered Frank to get a drug and alcohol evaluation and follow any recommendation for treatment, zero tolerance for drug or alcohol use, supply a DNA sample, make restitution totaling $5,246.63, render a total of 100 hours of community service when paroled, 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 a total of 341 days spent in prison to date on the charges.