Man Sentenced in Upper Saucon Burglary, Other Crimes

A man who was charged in , including some in Upper Saucon Township last winter, was sentenced to seven to 13 years in state prison in Lehigh County Court Friday. 

Jonathan Covine, 21, of Coplay pleaded guilty to burglary and related charges in connection with crimes in Whitehall and Upper Saucon townships. For his part in a burglary at a home on Bayhill Drive North in Center Valley, Covine pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary.  

Most of his crimes took place in Whitehall, including one in which he and two accomplices reportedly broke into a woman's home and pointed a gun at her while stealing her television, computer and cash. Under the plea agreement, he agreed to pay restitution to his victims. 

At the hearing Friday, Covine's mother, Jennifer, told Judge Kelly Banach that her son was a loving child whose drug addiction caused him to commit crimes. She said she had been addicted to drugs years ago and knew addiction could turn people into "monsters." 

“I don’t believe my son is a menace to society,” Jennifer Covine said. She said he had been in and out of therapy ever since she became drug free. 

Jonathan Covine agreed that his addiction led him to commit crimes but acknowledged that he chose to take the drugs.

“I take full responsibility for everything I’ve done,” he said. “I’m very sorry for the people I have hurt.” 

He said he planned to use his prison time to turn his life around. “I’ve been in [prison] for nine months,” he said. “And it’s been the some of the best nine months…because I’ve been sober.”

Citing his troubled history, Banach said, “he’s an 'everything addict' partly out of the need to self medicate.” She urged Covine to use his time in prison to change his life. She recommended a couple of books for him to read, including “Tweak,” a memoir of a methamphedamine addict. She said he must receive drug treatment in prison.

Covine's co-defendants, Justin R. Snyder of Alburtis and Corey P. Wendell of Allentown, are scheduled for status conferences later this month. 

Reached after the sentencing, John Kukitz, one of the organizers of the Upper Saucon Crime Watch, said it was break-ins such as Covine's that spurred him, his wife Carol and some neighbors to start a Crime Watch in the township.

In 2010, there were more than 40 burglaries in Upper Saucon. 

Kukitz's  in January, reportedly by people who were members of the Latin Kings, he said. The burglars who hit his house only got away with a jewelry box after the house alarm went off, he said. But the crime was enough to convince him that a Crime Watch was needed and the organizers held their first meeting in March.

The next Crime Watch meeting is 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, at the township building. Kukitz said the group focuses on educating residents on how to avoid being victims of crime and has had guest speakers from law enforcement and other sectors.