Feb 25, 2014 By Susy Kelly skelly@heraldstandard.Com 2 min read

A Connellsville man whose drunken driving case was reopened two years after it was initially dismissed pleaded guilty in Fayette County Court on Tuesday, and was sentenced to six months of intermediate punishment.

Robert Lee Rudnik, 30, will spend the first 60 days of the sentence on house arrest with electronic monitoring, and was ordered to complete 50 hours of community service after the house arrest ends. In addition, he must pay $100 restitution to Thomas Brown, whose mailbox was damaged when Rudnik lost control of his vehicle while intoxicated.

State Deputy Attorney General L. Todd Goodwin explained to President Judge John F. Wagner Jr. that prosecutors had no offer or recommendation for sentencing.

Police previously testified that a breathalyzer test indicated Rudnik’s blood-alcohol level to be .166 when he was initially arrested on Sept. 14, 2011 in Dunbar Township, but Goodwin said he was willing to stipulate to the determination made by a defense expert who found Rudnik’s blood-alcohol level to be .159 percent.

According to Pennsylvania statute, .160 is the threshold at which a DUI charge is elevated to a more serious charge with more serious penalties, and all drivers over .08 percent are considered under the influence.

Attorney Brent Peck represented Rudnik in the proceeding, because William Difenderfer, the attorney of record in the case, was delayed in another hearing.

“My client is gainfully employed as a steelworker. But for this hiccup in his life, he’s been a productive member of society,” Peck said.

“Second hiccup,” Wagner corrected. This is Rudnik’s second DUI.

Before handing down the sentence, Wagner asked Goodwin, “There’s no reason why I should treat him any different from any other DUI?” and Goodwin said there was not.

The charges, which were dismissed in 2011 by Magisterial District Judge Dwight K. Shaner, were refiled in August, at Goodwin’s direction.

Rudnik is the nephew of sitting county Judge Linda Cordaro.

In 2011, Cordaro was the prosecutor assigned to Shaner’s office the day Rudnik was supposed to have a preliminary hearing in the matter, though she recused herself from handling the case.

She was elected as a common pleas judge last year.

Difenderfer said, outside the courtroom, that the case against Rudnik was political.

“Other than there being a judicial election, there was nothing unusual about this case. It’s political B.S.,” he said.