Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Two Western Pennsylvania Defendants Plead Guilty To Receiving COVID Relief Benefits For Which They Were Ineligible
Receiving unemployment benefits is just one of the ways that it is expensive to be poor. If your income from work increases by a few cents, you could risk losing hundreds of dollars in benefits, putting you in an even worse financial situation than you were in before you got the pay raise. Then… Read More »
Three Allegheny County Men Convicted Of Drug Trafficking Conspiracy
The constitutional rights of defendants in criminal cases matter at every stage of the legal process of investigating alleged crimes, determining whether a defendant has committed those crimes, and implementing an appropriate punishment if the defendant is convicted. Defense lawyers do more than just try to persuade jurors that the defendant is innocent or,… Read More »
Jury Convicts Westmoreland County Dad Of Transporting Child In Car With 300 Bricks Of Heroin
If you don’t know this, then the drug charges you are facing are probably not the most serious ones, but a stamp bag is the unit in which injectable drugs, especially those that purport to be heroin, are sold on the street. The name is in reference to the fact that the original ones… Read More »
York County Woman Receives Prison Sentence For Providing Drugs That Caused Boyfriend’s Fatal Overdose
Some people will tell you that they knew they had hit rock bottom and get treatment for their substance use disorder after they suffered an overdose where, if one tiny detail had gone differently, they would not still be here. Others will tell you that rock bottom was when a friend overdosed. Laws in… Read More »
Bad Idea: Speeding Past A Police Car In A Snowstorm With An Expired Concealed Weapons Permit
Common sense says that you should always be careful because you never know who has a concealed weapon. Meanwhile, as long as you have a concealed weapons permit, you have the right to carry a weapon with you to most places, and most of the time, people will be none the wiser. In fact,… Read More »
Couple Arrested After Using Heroin In Car While 4-Year-Old Daughter Was In The Backseat
The percentage of people who think that drugs are always bad is becoming lower and lower, but almost everyone can agree that drugs are worse when children are present. Likewise, even if it is harmless fun to consume alcohol or cannabis at a party and then dance the night away or sit on the… Read More »
Scranton Doctor Pleads Guilty To Irresponsible Prescribing Of Opioids And Receiving Bribes From Drug Company
Anyone who has lived in western Pennsylvania during the past decade and a half has witnessed the devastating effects of the opioid epidemic in our region. Changes to prescribing guidelines and crackdowns on “pill mills,” clinics where doctors would prescribe huge quantities of opioid pills to virtually any patient who requested them, have changed… Read More »
Evans City Man Accused Of Indecent Assault Of Teen After Registering On Megan’s List
When criminal defense lawyers discuss possible sentences for crimes, sometimes in the context of plea deals, the discussion tends to center on avoiding prison time. Criminal cases result in the defendant pleading guilty more than nine times as often as they result in the case going to trial. This is because, by pleading guilty,… Read More »
Mother Charged With Child Endangerment After Police Use Naloxone To Revive Baby Who Ingested Heroin
Naloxone, an intranasal drug that quickly reverses the effects of opioids, saves lives. It has prevented many thousands of opioid overdose deaths since first responders began carrying it several years ago. If you visit a sobriety support group or read people’s online journals of sobriety, you will hear stories of people who suffered what… Read More »
Monroeville Man Faces Attempted Murder Charges After Road Rage Shooting
You might expect to see advice on what to do and what not to do after a collision or other traffic mishap on a personal injury law firm website, instead of a criminal defense law firm site, but you can get criminal penalties for certain actions related to car accidents. For example, leaving the… Read More »
