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Amish Cook: Cooking by trial and error and making easy homemade ice cream

WILKES-BARRE &#8212; A Hazleton area man who admitted to theft charges has a chance to serve his sentence in a state program for nonviolent offenders driven by addiction.James Robert Hunsinger, 38, was sentenced Friday in Luzerne County Court to two years in the State Intermediate Punishment program (SIP), according to court papers.The program consists of a minimum of seven months in prison, at least two months in a community-based therapeutic community and at least six months in outpatient treatment.Judge Michael T. Vough sentenced Hunsinger via video, court papers say, and ordered him to make restitution of $8475.According to a criminal complaint, Hunsinger in August 2014 broke into a Hazle Township home and stole a number of tools.A second complaint says Hunsinger in the same month stole merchandise from a Family Dollar store on West Broad Street, Hazleton.Police investigating the theft found Hunsinger in possession of syringes which he said he utilized in the use of heroin, the complaint says.Hunsinger admitted in April to charges of burglary, theft, retail theft and possession of drug paraphernalia.Court papers indicate he was sent to State Correctional Institution Camp Hill after pleading guilty to be evaluated for SIP.Both the prosecutor and judge must recommend an offender be admitted into SIP. The Department of Corrections (DOC) then assesses the individual&#8217;s suitability for the program before the offender is allowed to participate.SIP is designed for defendants whose crimes were motivated by addiction to drugs or alcohol, the state DOC says, however those convicted of violent or sex offenses are excluded from the program. Treatment plans are tailored to the individual participant.An offender who fails the program, whether due to misconduct or lack of progress, faces resentencing under traditional sentencing guidelines. The DOC says the program has just a 20 percent failure rate, with only 849 out of more than 4,000 participants being removed from the program in nine years.<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By James O&#8217;Malleyjomalley@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach James O&#8217;Malley at 570-991-6390 or on Twitter @TL_omalley.</shirttailMeta></div>

Theft and burglary spurred by drug use earn man two years in program