Greene attorney jailed for DUI, drug possession in Waynesburg
Furmanek already facing review of law license by state Disciplinary Board
Greene County attorney Kimberly Furmanek was arrested Thursday and charged with driving under the influence after police said she appeared to be intoxicated on drugs while picking her son up at the school bus stop in Waynesburg.
According to court documents, Waynesburg police were called to West Elm Street shortly after 2:30 for an intoxicated woman behind the wheel.
While at the scene, police said they spoke to Furmanek while she was in the driver’s seat of the car and appeared to be fidgeting. A search of the vehicle found stamp bags, capped needles and crystal methamphetamine, according to court documents.
Her son was given to the care of his great-grandparents, while Furmanek was taken to the nearby Fort Jackson Building to meet with the county’s adult probation office.
She was placed in the Greene County jail Thursday afternoon on a detainer following the incident due to the alleged probation violation more than nine months after she pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in Washington County.
In addition to driving under the influence of a controlled substance, Furmanek was also charged by Waynesburg police with possession of a controlled substance and 37 counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, according to online court documents. The charges were filed late Friday afternoon at District Judge David Balint’s office in Waynesburg.
Her arrest comes a week after she appeared at a state Disciplinary Board hearing to review her law license over a relationship she had with a Washington County jail inmate.
Furmanek, 36, of Waynesburg, pleaded guilty Aug. 2 in Washington County Court of Common Pleas to two misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct for an incident involving the alleged wiretapping of a fellow attorney during a jail phone call, and she was sentenced to 12 months on probation. Due to her probation continuing through early August, Waynesburg police notified Greene County’s Adult Probation Office about the incident, which investigated and placed her on a detainer at Washington County’s request.
“We had information of an alleged probation violation (Thursday) afternoon,” Greene County Chief Probation Officer Craig Wise said Friday. “After we investigated and notified Washington County (Adult Probation Office), they placed the detainer on her and she is now in the Greene County jail.”
Wise declined to comment on what his office’s investigation revealed about the alleged probation violation. She was transferred Friday afternoon to the Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh while she awaits a review of her probation.
After Furmanek’s plea last August, her probation was transferred to her home county in Greene to monitor her over the next 12 months. But now with the alleged violation, Washington County will once again oversee her probation and could begin revocation proceedings in the near future.
In addition to Furmanek’s personal legal troubles, she’s also facing a possible law license suspension or even disbarment.
The two-day hearing on May 8 and 9 before a three-person Disciplinary Board committee was designed to review Furmanek’s conduct when she engaged in a romantic relationship with a Washington County jail inmate, who was her client. Her relationship with inmate John Lazear while she was his attorney, and later her actions to allow him to eavesdrop on his new defense lawyer in May 2022, prompted the criminal charges and eventual review of her law license.
The Office of Disciplinary Counsel, which filed the petition against Furmanek in November, requested at the conclusion of the hearing last week that her law license be suspended for one year and day. The state Disciplinary Board will ultimately decide whether Furmanek violated any rules of professional conduct and what sanctions she should face. It’s unclear how Furmanek’s arrest Thursday could affect the disciplinary proceedings.