The drug dealer was out of prison just a few years when he was arrested again on new charges.

And the message from the Lancaster County judge to 32-year-old Kelvin Monsanto was very clear:

One more arrest and he'll be spending the rest of his life in state prison.

As it is, Monsanto will be spending the next 10 to 20 years in state prison for possessing $50,000 worth of heroin for delivery.

And that's after he serves a three-year prison sentence for getting arrested while he was on parole for selling cocaine.

"If you have three strikes against you, you do not get out. You're going to spend the rest of your life in prison," Judge James P. Cullen warned Monsanto.

Cullen noted that Monsanto was 18 years old when he was arrested in 1995 for selling cocaine.

He served eight years in state prison and was still on parole when he was arrested on heroin charges last year.

"Clearly, you have a significant drug problem," Cullen noted. "This is a huge quantity of heroin you were packaging."

Assistant District Attorney Christopher Lechner told the judge Monsanto could have received treatment in prison for a drug addiction.

"He doesn't want to do that," Lechner said. "He wants to be a drug dealer."

"There's no doubt whatsoever in my mind, he'll be right back out there," when he is released, Lechner said.

"Because that's the trade and lifestyle he chooses."

Monsanto and two other men were arrested in March 2008 after the Drug Task Force found them packaging heroin inside a West Vine Street home.

While the men were in the basement bagging heroin for street sales, police said a 4-year-old girl, the daughter of one of the other men, was watching television in the living room.

Monsanto was convicted of possession with intent to deliver heroin, conspiracy and possession of drug paraphernalia by a jury in September.

"I'm sorry everything happened," Monsanto told the judge. "I'm sorry, and I need help."

Defense attorney Karl Rominger asked the judge for treatment, in addition to punishment, for his client.

"You can offer him all the treatment in the world, but if he's not willing to take advantage" of the programs, Cullen said, "it's a waste of time."

Rominger said Monsanto's parents, who were sitting in the back of the courtroom, are supportive of their only child.

In addition to the prison term, Cullen fined Monsanto $50,000 and ordered him to serve 10 years probation after the prison sentence.

The judge noted that Monsanto already owes Lancaster County $26,135 in unpaid fines and costs from the previous case.

jkelley@lnpnews.com