Judge Paul K. Allison sentenced Lonnie Alexander "Bobby" Stewart to 5 to 10 years in state prison anyway.

Stewart, 36, insisted he was innocent.

"I didn't know there were drugs or guns in the car," Stewart said. "Honest, that's God's truth."

Manheim Township police arrested Stewart and Donell P. Brantley Jr., 21, about 3 a.m. Sept. 26, 2005, after stopping them for driving erratically in the 1200 block of Lititz Pike, according to court documents.

Officer Thomas Miles contacted the owner of the Mazda 626, who was not with the two men, and received permission to search it.

Miles found a duffel bag containing a loaded handgun, 24 grams of cocaine, $1,900 cash and drug paraphernalia.

Car thefts typically spike when weather turns cold

It was bitter cold, so an employee of Pennsylvania Settlement Service left his company car running outside a residence on Green Street in Brownsville on Sunday.

When he went back outside to check whether the 2001 Mazda 626 sedan was warm, the vehicle was missing, according to state police at Belle Vernon.

He isn't the only victim of vehicle theft this time of year.

Jocelyn Cramer left her car's engine running Wednesday while she dashed into a Unity Township store to pick up a few beauty supplies.

From mangled to miracle

Two and a half months after a car accident mangled Jenny Johnson's body and left her with brain damage, she's healing, alert and ready to tackle her challenging future.

On a foggy evening last December, Jenny, a 29-year-old College of the Redwoods student, was driving home to Eureka. Her dog, Luna, was with her.

Heading south along Highway 101 through Arcata, a car driven by Ryan Harper, 27, of Redding collided head-on with her Mazda 626. Johnson was taken to Mad River Hospital, and then airlifted to Redding within an hour. Investigators discovered when Harper was being examined at the hospital that he was under the influence of alcohol.

Jenny's mother, Mary Ann Johnson, said nobody could find out how to contact her about the accident for 24 hours. Once she heard, she found a substitute to teach her Sunday school class in Utah, then left for California.