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HOLLIDAYSBURG -- A former member of the Bellwood-Antis School Board is hoping to enter the state's Drug Treatment Program after rendering guilty pleas Friday to possession of illegal drugs, an offensive weapon and related criminal charges.
Jason D. Lynn, 34, arrested in January, submitted the pleas in Blair County Court in exchange for a two- to five-year sentence with the chance for drug treatment, followed by five years' probation.
President Judge Elizabeth A. Doyle, who accepted Lynn's pleas, deemed him eligible for the Drug Treatment Program, formerly known as state Intermediate Punishment Program, with entry up to the state Department of Corrections.
The revised program developed from a justice reform initiative Gov. Tom Wolf signed in December, shortening what had been a lengthy entry process for the state Intermediate Punishment Program.
The new program, like the former program, requires a mix of incarceration, in-patient and community-based treatment, defense attorney Dan Kiss said Friday after Lynn's sentencing concluded.
It's the best option, Kiss said, because Lynn is "a good man" whose criminal charges developed from drug use.
"He got hooked and it was a very fast downward spiral," Kiss said. "Drugs took over and destroyed his life."
Lynn, an Army veteran who served three tours in Iraq, used to be a Norfolk Southern electrician.
In 2014, he made an unsuccessful bid in the 80th District for a seat in the state House of Representatives, then in 2017, he secured a seat on the Bellwood-Antis School Board. He remained in that public servant post until January. That's when police found a stolen shotgun in his vehicle trunk. When arrested, police found cocaine and methamphetamine in Lynn's backpack. A search of his residence turned up small amounts of heroin, methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia and another stolen gun.
Lynn, who arranged through a bail bondsman to post bail and get of prison, was arrested again in February, on strangulation, robbery, terroristic threats, false imprisonment and related charges. A woman he knew accused him of using plastic cables to tie her hands behind her back and choking her until she couldn't breathe.
"He's a poster child for what can happen if you get hooked on drugs," Kiss said Friday. "But hopefully, he'll be able to make a comeback through treatment."
Assistant District Attorney Jessica Weil advised Doyle that her office is raising no objections to Lynn's proposed entry into the state's Drug Treatment Program.
She also acknowledged, as included in the sentencing order, that Lynn could return to court and ask for early termination of the five-year probationary period, after the two- to five-year sentence is complete.
Lynn's guilty pleas were applicable to charges of simple assault, receiving stolen property, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of cocaine, possession of methamphetamine, possession of an offensive weapon, receiving stolen property, possession of a controlled substance possession of marijuana, strangulation and unlawful restraint.
Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 946-7456.