HARRISBURG — A plastic surgeon who replaced the fingerprints of a man involved in a drug ring with skin from the bottom of his feet must serve 18 months in prison.

U.S. District Judge Yvette Kane called the crime "horrific" when she sentenced Dr. Jose Covarrubias on Wednesday in a nearly empty courtroom.

Covarrubias, a U.S. citizen who lived in the border town of Nogales, Ariz., and practiced in Mexico, pleaded guilty Nov. 1 to a federal charge of harboring and concealing a fugitive.

He apologized to Kane for his conduct, and said he had learned his lesson. Covarrubias, 50, has been held in Adams County Jail for about 10 months and can be released in eight months. After that, he faces three years of probation.

Covarrubias' lawyer, Joseph Metz, said the sentence was fair.

The case was bizarre even to prosecutors, who didn't believe the stories of drug ring operatives without fingerprints — until Marc George was arrested in September 2005 at the Nogales border crossing, bandaged and limping badly from the painful procedure.

Covarrubias was indicted in May by a grand jury in Harrisburg. Prosecutors say the drug ring moved cash and drugs from Tucson and elsewhere and distributed more than a ton of it in central Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and other areas.

BIG BEAVER — A 3-year-old boy is dead after a car hit his sled in Beaver County.Police say Alexander Davis and his 10-year-old brother were sledding down their driveway in Big Beaver Wednesday afternoon when the sled went out in front of the car and was hit.Police say the older boy was sitting in front on the sled.Police say a girl stood across the street watching for traffic when the boys were sledding, but didn't see the car in time.Police say the driver didn't appear to be speeding on the icy road.The condition of the older boy was not immediately available, but police say the injuries don't appear to be life-threatening.

DOYLESTOWN — Ten emergency dispatchers were not otherwise occupied at the time a woman called 911 to report a fire that killed her, yet it took six rings before anyone answered the phone, authorities said Wednesday.Brenda Orr, 53, was initially put on hold when someone answered her call Jan. 29. The county's investigation revealed that the dispatcher who answered her call was in the midst of dispatching an ambulance but felt compelled to answer the phone because it had rung six times."Can you hold one second please?" the dispatcher said in a recording of the call."I can't," Orr answered. "This is an emergency, 911 emergency. ... Bed on fire."None of the 10 unoccupied dispatchers gave a "reasonable explanation" for not answering the phone promptly, Bucks County Director of Emergency Communications Brent Wiggins said Wednesday."They were just not doing their job properly," Wiggins said. "That's the bottom line."