Ex-judge tries to keep license
PITTSBURGH — A former judge convicted of stealing cocaine from evidence in the county drug court he founded has asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to consider allowing his law license to remain suspended instead of permanently disbarring him.
Former Washington County Judge Paul Pozonsky’s license has been temporarily suspended since August 2015, a month after he pleaded guilty and was given 30 days to nearly two years in jail. He served the minimum sentence on work-release before he was paroled.
Pozonsky’s attorney and former law clerk, James Andrew Salemme, argued before the court sitting in Pittsburgh Tuesday that Pozonsky wants to rebuild his life and career. He’s hoping the court will impose a retroactive suspension of three to five years.
Pozonsky is “deserving of a second chance, a chance at redemption,” Salemme told the seven justices.
But Samuel Napoli, and attorney for the state’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel, said Pozonsky deserves the harshest sanction because his actions eroded the public trust.
The justices seemed split on whether disbarring Pozonsky would meet the state’s two goals of ensuring public confidence in the courts and protecting the public from unfit attorneys, or whether it would go further — and improperly punish Pozonsky. Now 61, Pozonsky has already lost his $98,000 annual pension and medical benefits in retirement.
Napoli noted that other convicted judges were disbarred, including former Supreme Court Justice Rolf Larsen, former Superior Court Judge Michael Joyce and former District judge Jules Melograne.
Pozonsky resigned abruptly without explanation in June 2012. He was charged a year later after a state grand jury reviewed the case. Pozonsky pleaded guilty to obstructing justice, theft and misapplying government property.
