Judge sentences defendant to deliver anti-drug message
When Juan McCargo came before Fayette County Judge John F. Wagner Jr. for his second probation violation on drug charges, the judge came up with a unique punishment. Instead of revoking McCargo’s three-year probationary term for possession of paraphernalia, Wagner ordered the 28-year-old Uniontown man to educate the youth of today by wearing a sign that denounces drug use as he walks in front of a local high school.
Once a week for the next eight weeks, McCargo must notify arriving or departing students at Uniontown Area High School “that the use of controlled substances has negative consequences,” according to Wagner’s order Tuesday.
Wagner said Wednesday that it will be up to the Fayette County Drug and Alcohol Commission to design the sign, but said, “I envision a sandwich board.” Although he declined to comment on the order, Wagner noted that such a punishment was new territory.
McCargo, a former Uniontown Area High School basketball and football player, came before Wagner after probation officer Amanda Humbert filed papers last month that indicated he violated his probation on several counts, including a positive test for marijuana on June 18, 2004. That was the last date McCargo reported for his monthly check-ins at the probation office, she alleged.
McCargo admitted to using drugs, according to the report.
The charges stem from a Feb. 2, 2002, arrest. State police pulled him over in North Union Township for an equipment violation, and when McCargo admitted to not having a license, the investigating trooper found a digital scale that contained cocaine residue in the car, according to authorities.
McCargo pleaded guilty to the charges. His maximum parole expiration date is Dec. 18, 2005.
This was McCargo’s second probation violation. In June 2003, Wagner found that he tested positive for drugs, and he ordered the adult probation office to run a drug test the last Friday of each month. However, the judge allowed McCargo to continue on probation because he felt it was an appropriate correctional tool.