WILSON BOROUGH, Pa. — The borough solicitor and former Northampton County Bar Association president has been charged with drug possession.
Stanley J. Margle III, 67, has been charged with misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and use or possession of drug paraphernalia, according to court records.
On Feb. 13, a person found a black-and-brown Coach bag left in the attorneys waiting room of Northampton County Juvenile Justice Cetner.Affidavit of probable cause
The offense occurred Thursday, Feb. 13, with an officer from Bethlehem Township Police Department listed as an arresting officer, court records show.
Margle did not immediately respond Wednesday to a phone message left with his office.
An affidavit of probable cause states that on Feb. 13, a person found a black-and-brown Coach bag left in the attorneys' waiting room of the Northampton County Juvenile Justice Center.
A sheriff’s deputy opened the bag to try to identify the owner and found two baggies of a white powdery substance, the affidavit says.
The deputy recognized it as a controlled substance, according to the records.
'Consistent with cocaine'
Video surveillance confirmed Margle had entered the facility with the bag about 11:40 a.m., then entered the waiting room with the bag at 11:56 a.m.
Margle left the room without the bag to enter the courtroom, and was seen at 12:33 p.m. entering and leaving the waiting room without the bag.
Margle later returned to the center to retrieve his bag, which a deputy sheriff had secured and turned over to county detectives.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. March 25 before Magisterial District Judge Daniel G. Corpora.Northampton County Court documents
After a search warrant was obtained, the bag was found to contain a cigar case made to look like a book.
When opened, it was found to contain two small baggies with a white powdery substance inside “consistent with cocaine,” the investigating official said.
Also inside was a razor blade and two makeshift straws likely used for snorting the drug, the affidavit says.
The powdery substance was field-tested and yielded a positive result for cocaine, it says.
A legal pad and two business cards for Margle also were found in the bag, police said.
Margle was issued a summons on Tuesday, Feb. 19, along with a fingerprint order.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. March 25 before District Judge Daniel G. Corpora in Easton.
Leads own law firm
Besides serving as a borough solicitor, Margle heads his own private firm, Margle Law Offices on Easton Avenue in Bethlehem Township.
According to his firm’s website, Margle has practiced law since 1983, with a concentration in the areas of divorce, domestic relations and real estate municipal law.
Margle is a member of the Pennsylvania and Northampton County Bar Associations, as well as a council member of the PA Family Law Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association 2001-04.
He also was a member of the Board of Governors of the Northampton County Bar from 1989-92.
Margle has been an adjunct professor of Business Law at Northampton Community College and Lafayette College, and has lectured on family law issues at numerous county and statewide Bar Association conferences.
