Law license for Waynesburg attorney temporarily suspended after drug arrest
The Greene County attorney who had a romantic relationship with a Washington County jail inmate and most recently was charged with being high on drugs while picking up her son from a school bus stop in Waynesburg has temporarily lost her law license.
An order Friday from the state Supreme Court suspended the license of Kimberly Ann Furmanek, effective Aug. 11.
There was no timeline listed in the order on when Furmanek’s suspension might be lifted, but she is also facing another pending case reviewing her license by the state Disciplinary Board.
Furmanek was arrested May 16 and charged with driving under the influence of a controlled substance and multiple drug counts after Waynesburg police said was sitting in her parked car waiting to pick up her son from school at the bus stop on Elm Street. Police said they found stamp bags, capped needles and crystal methamphetamine. She is awaiting trial on those charges.
At the time of her arrest, Furmanek, 36, of Waynesburg, was on probation after pleading guilty last August in Washington County for her actions with a jail inmate there to eavesdrop on a conversation with another attorney. Investigators determined she was having a relationship with the inmate and former client, John Lazear, when she placed two phones together so he could hear her conversation with his new attorney, Jim Jeffries, during a call in May 2022.
The Disciplinary Board convened a two-day hearing on May 8 and 9 before a three-person committee to review Furmanek’s conduct when she engaged in the romantic relationship with the jail inmate. A decision in that case is still pending.