Woman gets probation in theft, drug case
A Whitehall woman will spend two years on probation after pleading guilty to charges of theft of services, retail theft, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a controlled substance in Carbon County Court on Friday.
Leanna Altemose, 33, had three criminal cases before President Judge Roger Nanovic dating back to 2017.
In the 2017 case, Altemose was charged by Palmerton police with opening Blue Ridge Cable accounts in the names of two minors. Nanovic ordered her to pay restitution to Pencor Services for $481.05 and to another victim for $140.67.
In May 2018, Mahoning Township police stopped Altemose outside the Walmart lawn and garden entrance after a loss prevention employee told authorities she stole merchandise from the store, according to an affidavit of probable cause. When police searched her vehicle, they found a digital scale, two syringes and plastic bags. Altemose was ordered to pay restitution to Walmart for $46.88.
State police at the Lehighton barracks found methamphetamine on Altemose after the Lehigh County Sheriff’s Office took her into custody on Oct. 12, 2018, for an outstanding bench warrant.
Before sentencing, and in seeking probation, Altemose told Nanovic she has turned her life around since getting out of rehabilitation in early November.
“I have moved in with my grandparents, I’ve been clean of heroin for two years and clean of methamphetamine for six months,” she told the judge. “I know I was wrong in what I’ve done in the past. Moving out of the county has done a lot of good for me.”
Assistant District Attorney Cynthia Ann Dyrda Hatton said she was pleased at hearing Altemose’s progress and was willing to take a chance on supporting a probation-only sentence.
“I anticipated you would be going to prison when I came out here this morning,” Nanovic said. “I am taking you at your word that things have turned around for you. I hope I’m right. You were heading down a path that was going to lead to your death at a young age, and I don’t want to see that happen.”
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