An Albrightsville man was sentenced to a minimum of over nine years in a state prison and up to 19 years and a half on Thursday afternoon on a firearms and drug counts.

Joshua Peter Correll, 40, was sentenced to the long prison term by Judge Steven R. Serfass. Correll was convicted by a jury in August of felony counts of possession of firearm prohibited, flight to avoid apprehension and possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance; and misdemeanor charges of two counts of possession of a controlled substance, and one count each of resisting arrest, false identification to law enforcement and possession of drug paraphernalia, following a two-day trial.

Correll did not testify at the trial.

Serfass rejected a request from defense attorney Matthew J. Mottola, of the public defender’s office, to run all the sentences concurrently.

On the firearms count, Serfass imposed a 90- to 180-month term and on the possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, a term of 27 to 54 months, with the terms running consecutively. The sentences on the remaining counts were all run concurrently by the court.

Mottola said Correll has been a drug user and became addicted to drugs at a very young age. He said he tried to get his addiction under control but suffered relapses.

Mottola also indicated that Correll plans to challenge the verdict of the jury.

Correll thanked the prosecutor, police and court, stating had he not been arrested and jailed he probably would have died of drug use.

Assistant District Attorney Jennifer L. Rapa, who prosecuted the case, argued for consecutive sentences in the firearms and drug counts. She said Correll circumvented the law in acquiring what is known as a “ghost gun.” A ghost gun is one which has no serial number or any other markings on it, only the manufacturer’s name. It was a 9 mm handgun found in his vehicle at the time of his arrest.

Serfass said he had to consider the seriousness of the crime. He said “ghost guns” are a concern for the court. He noted it was unusual for a defendant to thank the court, prosecutors and arresting officers, but said that did not change the seriousness of the charges.

Case history

He was charged by Jim Thorpe police following an incident on Jan. 14 along Olympian Way, near North Street.

Borough police officer John Pruitte Jr. saw Correll, a woman and another man at a vehicle listed for sale parked along Olympian Way about 12:30 p.m. Pruitte had learned earlier in the day that Kidder Township police had a felony warrant for Correll’s arrest.

When Pruitte pulled his patrol car in next to the vehicle for sale, a Chevrolet Tahoe, Correll was seated in the front passenger seat. As Pruitte approached the vehicle, he saw Correll take something from his waist line area, bend over and put it under the passenger seat.

When confronted about the warrant, Correll first gave a false name, then argued with Pruitte about the warrant. Eventually, he fled on foot and was caught by Pruitte and Detective Lee Marzen, of the borough police, who responded as a backup. After being taken into custody, Correll was found with $2,030, a syringe and a spoon. Marzen later checked the for-sale vehicle, under the passenger seat, and found a 9 mm handgun with a fully loaded magazine and a shell in the chamber.

Police also observed Correll’s vehicle at the scene and got a search warrant to search it and found various drug paraphernalia, suspected crystal methamphetamine and other items in the vehicle.

In addition to the prison term, Correll was ordered to get both drug and alcohol evaluation and mental health evaluations and follow any recommendations for treatment, attend and successfully complete an anger management course, supply a DNA sample and pay court costs of over $1,000.

Correll, who has been in jail since his arrest, was given credit for 280 days already served.