A Blair County man was given a long state prison term Monday in Carbon County court after pleading guilty to drug-dealing charges.

He was one of five defendants who were arrested during vehicle stops along Interstate 80 in Carbon County to enter a guilty plea before Judge Joseph J. Matika.

Cocaine/heroin

Ernest Pernell Sims

, 43, of Altoona, was sentenced to serve 42 to 84 months in a state correctional institution on two counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance. On a charge of driving under suspension - DUI related, he was sentenced to serve 42 to 84 days, with 84 days credit for time already served and paroled on that count.

Sims was arrested on March 26 by state police at Fern Ridge following a stop in Kidder Township. He was originally charged with 11 criminal counts. The police report indicates troopers found 101 grams of crack cocaine, 16 grams of powdered cocaine and 25 bricks of heroin with each brick containing 50 bags of the drug.

Sims has been an inmate in the county prison since his arrest. He is also facing a state parole violation.

Matika gave him credit for 84 days served and ordered he get a drug and alcohol evaluation and follow any recommendation for treatment, supply a DNA sample and render 100 hours of community service when he is paroled.

He was also fined $500 on the suspension count.

Other pleas

Steven Hansen Ramirez-Lugo

, 27, of Bronx, New York, pleaded to two counts of violations concerning licenses and false identification.

He was arrested in East Side Borough by state police at Fern Ridge. Fraudulent credit cards and driver’s licenses, along with $2,140 in cash were found in his vehicle. He was originally charged with 40 criminal counts but had 38 dropped in a plea deal with the district attorney’s office.

Matika placed him on probation for a year on each count, running concurrently, and ordered him to render 50 hours of community service.

Algenis Israel Santiago-Polanco

, 23, of Hazleton, pleaded to one count of possession of drug paraphernalia, with a charge of possession of a controlled substance dropped in a plea deal with the DA. He was arrested on Oct. 9, 2018, in Kidder Township by state police at Fern Ridge. Oxycodone, for which he did not have a prescription, was found in his vehicle.

Matika placed him on probation for a year and ordered he get a drug and alcohol evaluation and render 50 hours of community service. The term runs concurrent with a sentence he is serving in Luzerne County.

Carlos Alfredo Arias

, 27, of Atlanta, Georgia, pleaded to one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. He was arrested on April 13, 2018, in East Side Borough by state police at Fern Ridge.

Matika imposed a fine of $150 and costs.

Lawrence Garfield Stallworth

, 47, of Atlanta, Georgia, pleaded to one count of possession of drug paraphernalia.

He was arrested on Oct. 12, 2016, in East Side Borough by state police at Fern Ridge. Crack cocaine was found in the vehicle.

Matika imposed a fine of $500 and costs.

Each defendant must also pay court costs of about $1,000 and a $50 per month supervision fee while on parole or probation.