Carbon man admits to forgery, theft counts; applying for state program

A Carbon County man entered guilty pleas on Thursday afternoon in the county court to charges of forgery and theft by receiving stolen property and is going to apply for placement in a special state prison program.

Ryan K. Kristiansen, 30, of Jim Thorpe, entered the pleas to the charges before Judge Steven R. Serfass. The forgery charge is a felony.

Kristiansen, currently an inmate in the county prison on the charges, said he wanted to enter the state Intermediate Punishment Program because of a drug addiction problem. The state program runs for two years and includes about seven months in a state prison, a period of time in an intensive drug and alcohol rehabilitation program run in the prison, and then time in a halfway house.

Kristiansen has another pending charge which he intends to plead guilty to in November. He will then be transferred to a state correctional institution to be evaluated for the state IPP. If he is approved, then he will be sentenced by Serfass.

On the forgery charge, state police at Lehighton charged on July 10, 2018, Kristiansen took checks from a Penn Forest Township resident and forged his name on them to get over $5,000. The receiving count is for an Aug. 21 incident, filed by state police at Lehighton, in which Kristiansen was found in possession of stolen snowboards and snowboarding equipment.