Former York County Coroner Doug McKown got another slap on the wrist in his latest run-in with the law. He should breathe a sigh of relief and resolve to walk the straight and narrow from now on.
McKown has been at the center of a lurid legal battle since May 2006, when he and his then-girlfriend were arrested on drug charges, including felony drug charges. Almost precisely two years later, McKown was acquitted of all charges related to cocaine and convicted only of unlawfully possessing half a pill of the prescription drug Viagra found during a search of his home.
McKown was sentenced to a year's probation and was allowed to return to his job as coroner. But less than two months after the verdict was handed down, McKown again was in trouble.
On July 18, as McKown tells it, he drove to Gastonia, N.C., to pick up Eric Howell, his boss at a Gastonia funeral home, who was drunk and needed a ride home. His county-owned car was detained by North Carolina authorities who said they saw Howell acting suspiciously in the car while McKown was inside a store. Howell was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.
McKown was cited for drinking while driving and having an open bottle of beer in his vehicle. Five days later, he announced his resignation from the coroner's job, saying his last day would be Aug. 13.
This episode was fraught with bad judgment on McKown's part. First, he left the state -- in a county-owned car -- without notifying probation officials, which is a violation of his probation. He waited until the next day to call his probation agent. And his agent said he lied when he told her that he hadn't been arrested and had only been ticketed.
The state Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services wanted McKown jailed for 90 days for the parole violation. Instead, Judge John Few sentenced him to 30 days of house arrest, during which local authorities will use electronic monitoring to track him.
He must stay at home unless he goes to work, church, a doctor's office or to perform his court-mandated community service. He also must pay a $250 fine.
Critics called the sentence inadequate. Members of the Western York County NAACP said that a black man in the same circumstances would have received a stiffer sentence.
We doubt that race played a role in the judge's decision. Rather, it seems, he viewed McKown as posing little physical threat to the public and likely to serve his sentence without incident.
It also should be recalled that the only crime he initially was convicted of was possession of half a Viagra pill.
But as light as this sentence might appear, it also might be the last chance for McKown to turn his life around. And he still must serve his full probationary sentence.
He dodged a bullet, but he can't afford to step out of line again.
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Former York County coroner got a slap on the wrist, but he needs to watch his step from now on. |
