Carbon County court - DUI cases
A Florida man was sentenced to a Carbon County prison term on two counts of driving under the influence and a charge of terroristic threats.
He was one of three defendants, who previously pleaded guilty to DUI charges, to be sentenced Thursday by Judge Joseph J. Matika.Noah Paul Reed, 33, of Jacksonville, was sentenced to serve a total of 90 days to one year in prison on the two DUI counts.Reed was arrested by state police at Lehighton on the two DUI cases. The first arrest occurred on June 19, 2015, along Bridge Street in Weissport, with the second on March 12, 2016, along Prospect Street, also in Weissport. In both cases a test revealed the presence of a controlled substance. A third DUI case was dropped in a plea agreement in which Reed pleaded to a summary offense of careless driving. That incident occurred on May 16, 2015, along Route 209 in Franklin Township, also filed by state police. A test in that case revealed the presence of a controlled substance.The threats charge stems from a Feb. 28, 2016, incident in Lansford. Borough police charged Reed with assaulting Thomas Laux at 212 W. Patterson St. In a plea bargain, charges of aggravated and simple assault were dropped.Since his arrest, Reed has gone through two inpatient drug rehabilitation programs in Florida and successfully completed both of them.His attorney, Matthew J. Rapa, said after he finished the second program, Reed returned to Pennsylvania and had his bail revoked so he could begin serving his prison term on the pending charges.Reed told Matika, "I had a lot of time to think about things. I'm thinking clearly and feel I'm moving forward." Rapa said Reed comes from a good family.Matika told him, "Drugs don't care where you come from and who you are. Drugs ruin a lot of lives."In addition to the jail term, Matika imposed total fines of $2,500 on the DUI counts and a total of 30 months license suspension. Matika imposed zero tolerance for drug and alcohol use and ordered Reed to render a total of 125 hours of community service when paroled. On a summary offense of careless driving he was fined $25 and costs. On the threats charge he was placed on probation for a year, concurrent with the DUI counts.He was given credit for a total of 84 days spent in jail and rehab programs. He has six more days to serve.Bernard Joseph Stianche, 58, of Nesquehoning, was sentenced to serve 48 hours in jail and five months and 28 days in the county's Intermediate Punishment Program with the first 28 days on electronic monitoring.He was also fined $750, his license was suspended for a year, ordered to make restitution of $4,954 and zero tolerance for drug and alcohol use was imposed. The restitution may have already been paid by insurance, it was noted.Stianche was arrested on March 30, 2016, along Holland Street by Nesquehoning police. A test revealed a 0.31 BAC. He will begin the jail term at 6 p.m. June 9.Michelle S. Greenberg, 60, of Elkins Park, Montgomery County, was sentenced to time-served - 62 days. She was also ordered to serve 4 years, 9 months and 28 days in the county IPP with the first 28 days on electronic monitoring.She was also ordered to pay a fine of $1,500, license suspended for 18 months, zero tolerance on drug and alcohol use and render 100 hours of community service.On a charge of accidents involving damage to unattended vehicle or property, she was placed on probation for a year, concurrent with the DUI charge. The IPP will be supervised in Montgomery County. She was arrested on May 28, 2016, by state police at Lehighton.Each defendant must also pay court costs of about $1,000, a $50 per month supervision fee while on parole or probation and follow all recommendations of their drug and alcohol evaluation.