James Drahovsky, a Lebanon city constable for 32 years, was sentenced to six months of probation and a $100 fine on Wednesday, June 25, for leaving his loaded handgun in a public court building’s unlocked lobby restroom last August.
Drahovsky, 71, entered a no contest plea in April to a single misdemeanor charge of recklessly endangering other persons, at which time the Lebanon County District Attorney agreed to recommend a full year of probation at the time of sentencing.
A no contest plea is equivalent to a guilty plea for sentencing and criminal record purposes. Drahovsky, who had no criminal record, could have been sentenced to up to two years in jail.
The incident occurred inside a building occupied by magisterial district judges Aurelis Figueroa and Maria Dissinger. Drahovsky was seen on video entering the restroom during business hours with a clearly visible sidearm, then emerging minutes later without it. The gun was later discovered by a member of the public, then secured by another constable.
According to the affidavit of probable cause filed in the case, “[a]t least ten civilians, including a child that appears to be under 10, visit[ed] the office and the public lobby portion that allows unrestricted access to the bathroom during the timeframe when Constable Drahovsky’s handgun was left unattended.”
Lebanon County District Attorney Pier Hess Graf said in a news release at the time the charge was filed that “the possession of a handgun gives its owner the immediate power to take and end a life. … Drahovsky is an elected official who recklessly and negligently created a potentially life altering and life ending hazard to countless people – including a child – when he left his loaded handgun ripe for the taking and use.”
On Wednesday, Drahovsky asked visiting Lancaster County Judge Howard Knisely to reduce the agreed-upon 12 months of probation by giving him credit for the 10 months that he has been suspended from working as a constable for county courts. The suspension, imposed by Lebanon County President Judge John Tylwalk, does not bar him from performing non-judicial constable functions, such as serving legal papers for attorneys.
Knisely asked First Assistant District Attorney Brian Deiderick whether the commonwealth had an objection to cutting Drahovsky’s agreed-upon probation in half, and Deiderick said his office did not.
Pennsylvania constables are elected officials who are independent contractors. They are not employees of the commonwealth, the courts, or any county or municipality in which they act. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that constables are peace officers and part of the executive branch of government.
Read More:
- DA files charge against local constable she says left gun in court restroom
- Constable who left loaded gun in court building restroom pleads no contest
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