Aug 20, 2015 2 min read

WASHINGTON, Pa. (AP) — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court says the law license of a former Common Pleas judge who stole cocaine from evidence packages will be temporarily suspended.

The suspension of 59-year-old Paul Pozonsky’s license is effective Sept. 18.

He resigned after nearly 15 years as a Washington County judge in June 2012, and previously served 13 years as a district judge in Cecil Township and McDonald. Pozonsky was charged a year later following the recommendation of a grand jury convened by the state attorney’s general’s office, which handled the case.

Pozonsky pleaded guilty in March to misdemeanor charges of theft, obstructing the administration of law and misapplication of entrusted property. He’s acknowledged stealing the drugs to feed his addiction. Investigators accused Pozonsky of stealing cocaine evidence after ordering police to bring it into his courtroom during several routine pretrial hearings. He kept the drugs in a locked cabinet in a vault in his office and replaced the drugs with other substances, including baking soda.

He was sentenced in July to 30 days to 23 ½ months in the Washington County Jail, two year of probation, and forfeited his yearly pension of $98,000 and full medical benefits.

While in jail, Pozonsky was held in a unit with other work-release prisoners, so he was not part of the jail’s general population. He was employed as a laborer with Tri-State Restoration Services Inc., 42 E. Maiden St., Washington, immediately following his sentence and also cut brush on Sundays with inmates enrolled in the Furlough Into Service program.

Pozonsky was released from jail this month after serving his minimum 30-day sentence on work release. At his sentencing, Pozonsky told the judge he would be caring for his elderly parents in the village of Muse, Cecil Township.