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Ford Family Auctions opens in new Wyoming location

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Cooking class kicks off with baked apple treat at JCC in Wilkes-Barre

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; A former Coughlin High School teacher will be spending a month on house arrest after he pleaded guilty to his fifth DUI charge since 2002.</p><p>Brian Hampel, 48, made headlines after he was fired by the Wilkes-Barre Area School District in 2016 when he was accused of acting as a lookout during former Coughlin administrator Stephen Stahl&#8217;s sexual encounters with a 16-year-old student.</p><p>Hampel&#8217;s most recent DUI charge comes after the Sweet Valley man was stopped by Harveys Lake police when he failed to obey a stop sign just after 1 a.m. Feb. 4. He allegedly had a .245 percent blood-alcohol content, three times the driving limit of .08.</p><p>Court records show Hampel entered a guilty plea in late July on a single count of driving under the influence. Other charges were withdrawn.</p><p>Luzerne County Judge Hugh F. Mundy on Wednesday sentenced Hampel to up to six months in the state&#8217;s Intermediate Punishment Program, which is designed to keep drug and alcohol offenders out of prison but living under a strict set of rules.</p><p>The first 30 days of Hampel&#8217;s sentence will be spent under house arrest with electronic monitoring. He was also fined $1,000, and his driver&#8217;s license was suspended for a year.</p><p>He must complete 15 hours of community service within six months, and he is barred from consuming drugs or alcohol or frequenting bars. In addition, he is subject to random testing.</p><p>Hampel was sentenced in June 2005 to 23 months in the Intermediate Punishment Program for a series of DUI offenses in Jackson Township on Jan. 19, 2004, Dallas on Oct. 14, 2004, and again in Dallas on Dec. 31, 2004.</p><p>He also had a previous offense in Dallas Township on Oct. 1, 2002. He was allowed to enter the ARD probation program for that offense.</p><p>Hampel was employed as a shop teacher at Coughlin for 18 years before he was fired in 2016 for acting as the lookout in Stahl&#8217;s case. He was convicted, serving just over the minimum of a six- to 23-month term.</p><p>He also faced additional charges of corruption of minors when he was accused of groping a Coughlin student at a house party in Bear Creek sometime between 2003 and 2005.</p><p>That charge was dismissed by Luzerne County Judge Michael T. Vough in May 2017 for a lack of evidence.</p><p>Hampel has a federal lawsuit pending against the Luzerne County District Attorney&#8217;s office, claiming malicious prosecution.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Hampel </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/web1_web1_HampelCropped.cmyk_-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Hampel </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Patrick Kernan</p><p>pkernan@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Patrick Kernan at 570-991-6386 or on Twitter @PatKernan</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Ex-Coughlin teacher gets house arrest for fifth DUI