EASTON, Pa. — A well-known Lehigh Valley solicitor on Thursday waived his rights to a preliminary hearing on misdemeanor drug charges.
Stanley Margle III, 67, who also heads his own law office in Bethlehem, waived the hearing without appearing before District Judge Daniel G. Corpa.
Court documents show Margle, 67, was charged with misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and use or possession of drug paraphernalia.
Margle's now scheduled for a formal arraignment at 1 p.m. May 22 in at Northampton County Court.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, on Feb. 13, a person found a black Coach bag which had been left in the attorneys’ waiting room of the Northampton County Justice Center.
After a sheriff’s deputy opened the bag in an attempt to identify the owner, they found two baggies of a white, powdery substance.
Video surveillance of the room showed Margle had entered the facility with what appeared to be the same bag at 11:40 a.m., then entered the room with the bag at 11:56 a.m.
Margle proceeded to leave the waiting room without the bag and ultimately exiting the building without it shortly thereafter.
Once he returned to the center to retrieve the bag, he was informed it had been secured and turned over to county detectives.
After obtaining a warrant, the bag was searched and found to contain a cigar case made to look like a book.
'The damage is done'
Inside the case were two small baggies with a white powdery substance “consistent with cocaine,” according to an investigating official, along with a razorblade and two makeshift straws.
A legal bad and two business cards for Margle were also found in the bag.
Testing showed the powdery substance was cocaine.
“It doesn’t matter if the allegations are true, because the damage is done, and the person who was behind it has won.”Stanley Margle
Margle had continued his preliminary hearing twice before waiving his rights.
When the subject of the charges came up at a Wilson Borough Council meeting in February, Margle said, “it doesn’t matter if the allegations are true, because the damage is done, and the person who was behind it has won.”
For the sake of his clients, both through his law firm and his work as a solicitor, Margle said, he wished to move past the matter, so they would not be shamed by association.
Addressing council and the public, Margle said he would accept termination from his role as Wilson’s solicitor “without any clamor or any argument,” though council members showed empathy for his situation and refused to take action.
Council President John J. Burke IV said it was not up to council to pass judgment, as it did not have all the information available.
