Carbon man placed in special state program

A Carbon County man, who previously entered guilty pleas in multiple cases, was placed in a special state program on Tuesday afternoon by the county court.

Corey Scherer, 25, of Lehighton, was placed in the state’s Intermediate Punishment Program for two years by Judge Steven R. Serfass.

The program includes about seven months in prison, time in an intensive inpatient drug/alcohol rehab program and then release to a halfway house. If Scherer fails to successfully complete the program, he will be brought back and resentenced by Serfass.

Scherer previously pleaded guilty to two counts each of flight to avoid apprehension and driving under the influence of a controlled substance and one count each of possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and unauthorized use of an automobile.

Scherer was arrested on the DUI counts on March 25 and April 6, 2016, by state police at Lehighton. On the two flights to avoid apprehension charges he was arrested on Sept. 27, 2016, by Lehighton police and March 22 by Palmerton police. In both cases tests revealed the presence of a controlled substance.

In the Palmerton case he was also charged with the two drug counts. In both those cases he was a passenger in a vehicle stopped by police and fled on foot after police were going to arrest him on outstanding warrants. The unauthorized use charge was filed by Lehighton police for an incident on Sept. 11, 2016.

The proceeding was held via video conference as Scherer is an inmate in the state correctional institution at Camp Hill, Dauphin County, where he was evaluated for the program and approved.

Serfass also ordered Scherer to pay court costs of about $1,000, fines totaling $2,500 on the DUI charges and license suspensions totaling 30 months.