An Ephrata man was sentenced to five to 10 years in state prison last week after he pleaded guilty earlier this year to illegally possessing a loaded gun and drugs.

Judge Jeffrey Wright sentenced Angel Luis Cintron, 46, after he pleaded guilty in May to possession of a prohibited firearm and possession of drug paraphernalia.

In handing down the July 24 sentence, Judge Wright said it was “a very concerning matter” that Cintron possessed the gun despite being under supervision as well as having a protection from abuse order against him.

Assistant District Attorney Chris Miller, who prosecuted the case, told the court that that made Cintron a “double threat” to both the community and to the woman who required protection from him.

Cintron declined the opportunity to address the court when given the opportunity to do so, but an attorney representing him argued that he had complied with police and peacefully surrendered the gun and asked Judge Wright to impose a “unique sentence” in the mitigated range.

Miller disagreed, arguing that Cintron “was deceitful and he lied” when he agreed as a condition of his parole that he would not possess any weapons, then furthered that deceit when a protection from abuse order also mandated that he surrender any firearms.

The Commonwealth’s mandate that Cintron not arm himself was not a difficult one for him to comply with, but “he couldn’t manage that,” Miller said.

“I don’t know what rule he’s going to break next,” Miller told the court.

And, Miller argued, a mitigated sentence for Cintron would make the protection from abuse order against him “worthless” and would discourage other victims of abuse from coming forward to request protection.

Judge Wright agreed, stating that a lesser sentence would depreciate the severity of Cintron’s offenses.

A Lancaster County Adult Probation officer found the weapon and marijuana at Cintron’s residence in the first block of Washington Avenue in November 2024.

Cintron admitted to Adult Probation that he had a loaded pistol underneath his couch cushions when the officer went to the residence as part of an unannounced visit. Cintron had failed to relinquish the firearm after being served with a protection from abuse order in September 2024.

Probation also found a smoking device with marijuana residue, a can with marijuana joints, a grinder with marijuana inside and a partially smoked marijuana blunt as well as a gun case with loose ammunition and loaded magazines inside the residence.

Ephrata Borough Police Officer Cody Newswanger filed the charges.