Former Albrightsville man enters guilty pleas in seven pending cases

A former Albrightsville man entered guilty pleas in Carbon County court on Monday in seven pending criminal cases.

Justin Hill, 36, of Chester, pleaded to one count of receiving stolen property, three counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, two counts of defiant trespass and one count of harassment. Judge Joseph J. Matika accepted the pleas.

Hill was charged in connection with six incidents in Lansford and one in Summit Hill, that occurred during the time span of March 25, 2017, through Nov. 7, 2018.

During that period, defense attorney Matthew J. Mottola, of the public defender’s office, said Hill was battling a serious drug addiction problem.

Mottola said Hill addressed the problem by being furloughed from the county prison into an inpatient rehabilitation program, which he successfully completed. He spent 87 days in prison before entering the rehab program. He now lives in a halfway house in Chester, is employed full-time and continues counseling sessions.

Hill told Judge Joseph J. Matika, “It was a wake-up call.” He added, “I’ve been doing this (drugs) since I was 18.” He said he now lives away from the area where he was involved in the drug culture.

Matika told him, “It sounds like you changed your life completely. The change is significant by moving out of the area.”

Included in his crimes was a theft incident involving relatives — his grandmother and uncle.

Matika placed him on probation for a total of two years and ordered he make restitution of $30.85, render a total of 100 hours of community service, pay court costs of about $1,000, pay a $50 per month supervision fee while on probation and get a drug and alcohol evaluation, noting the one from the inpatient facility would be sufficient.