State police charged
33-year-old Jason Michael Ponczek, of Johnstown, in February with accepting the
bribe to lower a drug charge to disorderly conduct while he was a Somerset
police officer.
The program Ponczek
entered Thursday doesn't require a guilty plea, but Ponczek's attorney, Art
McQuillan, made plain that his client was remorseful for "conduct that has
brought shame on himself and on the police department."
The Daily American of
Somerset (http://bit.ly/PRIQkL) reports Ponczek's arrest record will be
expunged if he completes a year of probation while wearing an electronic ankle
bracelet and 20 hours of community service.
Somerset is about 65
miles southeast of Pittsburgh