Pozonsky to appear for plea hearing
A former Washington County judge accused of stealing cocaine evidence while he served on the bench is scheduled to appear for a plea hearing next week, three days before his case was to go to trial.
Visiting Senior Judge Daniel Lee Howsare of Bedford County ordered Paul Pozonsky to appear before him in Washington County Courthouse at 10 a.m. March 20, according to the court document filed Friday at the county Clerk of Courts office.
Pozonsky, 59, of Kenai, Alaska, was arrested May 23, 2013, after investigators became suspicious about cocaine being taken to his courtroom as evidence “only to never be seen again,” court records state. Evidence was seized a year earlier from his chambers.
His arrest followed the recommendation of a grand jury convened by the state attorney general’s office.
He served on the bench for 15 years before resigning in June 2012 after the county’s president judge removed him from overseeing criminal cases.
State police charged him with drug possession, misapplying entrusted government property, obstruction of the administration of law, conflict of interest and multiple counts of theft.
He is free on $25,000 unsecured bond. His attorney, Robert G. DelGreco Jr., declined comment Friday on the terms of a tentative plea agreement in the case.