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Portersville attorney faces new charge after car crash

A Butler County attorney accused of being part of a drug smuggling operation at the Allegheny County Jail now faces a charge of accident involving damage to attended vehicle property after leaving the scene of an accident inside a Pittsburgh parking garage.

KDKA reported Wednesday that a criminal complaint released by authorities accuses Paul Gettleman of backing into a woman's car on Dec. 13 inside a First Avenue parking garage.

According to the report, Gettleman was allegedly driving erratically before backing into the woman's vehicle, which sustained minor paint scrapes and dents to the front bumper. The complaint said Gettleman got out of his car and looked at the woman, then checked his car for damages and drove away.

Police report the woman identified Gettleman from a photo lineup.

Gettleman was arrested earlier this month after investigators alleged in a grand jury report that he repeatedly smuggled drugs into the Allegheny County Jail for inmates in 2018 and 2019.

Investigators allege the 74-year-old Portersville man smuggled synthetic marijuana-tainted paper into the jail to at least two inmates, one of whom was his client at the time, and would charge $500 an operation and once even charged $1,000.

Gettleman is charged with two felony counts of contraband of a controlled substance along with two ungraded charges of conspiracy and two ungraded charges of possession with the intent to deliver.

Paul Gettleman, 74, of Portersville, allegedly smuggled synthetic marijuana-tainted paper into the jail to at least two inmates who were his clients at the time and is under investigation. Though no charges have been filed yet.

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