Jailed former lawmaker loses bid for reduced sentence
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A former state legislator serving time for a hit-and-run death cannot receive credit against his sentence for the nighttime hours he spent under curfew while appealing the case, the state Superior Court ruled Friday. Thomas W. Druce III, 43, was subject to an evening curfew for about 31/2 years and wanted that time deducted from the two- to four-year sentence he is serving at the Laurel Highlands state prison in Somerset.
The three-judge panel said restrictions on Druce’s activities and the use of electronic monitoring did not amount to being in custody.
“He was able to do essentially as he pleased during non-curfew hours, was overseen by the courts rather than the prison system, and was granted every curfew extension and travel request” that he made, Judge John T. Bender said in a 15-page opinion.
The court also rejected Druce’s argument that only a jury – and not the sentencing judge – could have imposed the elevated sentence he received for insurance fraud and evidence tampering.
The Bucks County Republican was in his fourth term in the General Assembly in July 1999 when his sport-utility vehicle fatally struck pedestrian Kenneth Cains in Harrisburg.
Druce had the vehicle repaired, traded it in and lied about the accident to his insurer. An anonymous tip five months later led police to Druce, who pleaded guilty in September 2000 to leaving the scene of a fatal accident and other offenses.
Following his sentencing in October 2000, Druce was granted bail to appeal the matter and was released in December 2000. He has received credit for the 56 days he served in state prison in 2000.
At issue in the appeal were the eight to 10 hours of curfew he spent under electronic monitoring at home with his wife and three children or at a second residence in Harrisburg from December 2000 to May 6, when he lost the appeal and was returned to prison.
Druce’s father, Tom Druce Jr., said Friday that a decision about whether to appeal to the state Supreme Court had not been made. The father said his son was “doing very well” in prison and is currently scheduled for release in early 2006.
Phone messages seeking comment from Druce’s defense attorney, William Costopoulos, and Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico Jr. were not immediately returned Friday afternoon.
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On the Net:
Decision: http://www.courts.state.pa.us/OpPosting/Superior/out/a46013_04.pdf