A Pottsville man is headed to a state prison cell after being sentenced Monday in Schuylkill County Court for possessing salable quantities of cocaine and marijuana, plus drug paraphernalia.
Shane D. Hibbler, 21, must spend three to six years in a state correctional institution under the terms of Judge John E. Domalakes' sentence.
"You do have a debt to society to pay for your transgressions," Domalakes told Hibbler.
In addition to serving the prison sentence, which is mandatory under state law, Hibbler must pay costs, a $10,000 fine, $100 to the Criminal Justice Enhancement Account and $113 restitution to the state police crime laboratory in Bethlehem.
Those transgressions included two counts each of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance and one of possession of drug paraphernalia, each of which a jury convicted him on Oct. 22 after a one-day trial.
The jury of eight men and four women deliberated about 1 1/2 hours before deciding that Hibbler possessed the drugs and paraphernalia on Dec. 9, 2011, in a room in a friend's apartment in Pottsville, as city police had charged.
Wearing handcuffs and a prison jumpsuit, Hibbler was near tears as he asked Domalakes to give him a chance to turn around his life.
"I'm 21 years old. I'm still young," he said.
Hibbler said that at his mother's urging, he had been praying and reading the Bible.
"I haven't lost faith," he said. "I haven't lost focus. I want to open my own restaurant."
Also on Monday, Domalakes returned Aaron T. Tullock, 21, of Pottsville, to prison after revoking his parole. Domalakes said Tullock could stay in prison until Oct. 28, 2013, with no parole except to an inpatient treatment facility.
Domalakes revoked Tullock's parole after finding that he violated its terms by not reporting several times when required, moving without permission, being charged with a new crime, using illegal drugs, not performing community service and not making any payments on his costs and fines.
"I did have a drug problem. I was pretty scared to go anywhere," Tullock said. "I wasn't very stable in my living situation for a long time."
Tullock originally pleaded guilty on April 18 to disorderly conduct. At that time, Domalakes sentenced him to serve 10 days to 12 months in prison with immediate parole and to pay costs.
Pottsville police had charged Tullock with being disorderly on Oct. 26, 2011, in the city.
