A Shenandoah man left Schuylkill County Court a free man on Wednesday after admitting he possessed drugs and drug paraphernalia more than three years ago in West Mahanoy Township.
Luis E. Ramos, 35, pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Judge James P. Goodman accepted the plea and, pursuant to an agreement between prosecutors and Ramos, sentenced the defendant to time served to 12 months in prison and granted him immediate parole.
Goodman also sentenced Ramos to pay costs, $100 to the Substance Abuse Education Fund, $50 to the Criminal Justice Enhancement Account, $113 restitution to the state police crime laboratory in Bethlehem and a $50 bench warrant fee.
Goodman also ordered Ramos, under the terms of the plea agreement, to forfeit to prosecutors $1,400 of the $5,080 seized from him at the time of his arrest. However, the judge directed prosecutors to return the remaining $3,680 to Ramos.
West Mahanoy Township police had charged Ramos with possessing marijuana and baggies on Jan. 22, 2010, in the township.
Ramos said little during Wednesday's hearing except to indicate that he understood his plea and that it was voluntary.
The case is not the only legal trouble Ramos recently faced.
Shenandoah police had charged him and Rasheam Strange, 28, of Shenandoah, with intimidation of a witness or victim and terroristic threats for Ramos' alleged threat against Michael Leger on March 5 in the parking lot outside the office of Magisterial District Judge Anthony J. Kilker in the borough and Strange's alleged threat against Leger on Feb. 28.
However, Kilker dismissed those charges on April 18 after Leger failed to appear for Ramos' preliminary hearing.
Leger is a witness against Chevonne M. Martinson, 28, of Shenandoah, who is charged with setting a fire Jan. 19 on West Centre Street in Shenandoah that damaged several homes.
Ramos pleaded guilty on Feb. 20 to one count each of possession of a small amount of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. In that case, Judge Cyrus Palmer Dolbin placed him on probation for 12 months, and also sentenced him to pay costs, a $100 SAEF payment, a $50 CJEA payment and $113 restitution to the state police crime laboratory in Bethlehem.
Shenandoah police had charged him in that case with possessing marijuana and paraphernalia on May 23, 2012, in the borough.