CUMBERLAND — The top Republican in the House of Delegates will not face jail time after reaching a plea deal Monday on a single charge of driving while impaired by alcohol.
House Minority Leader Del. Jason Buckel, R-Allegany, was sentenced to probation before judgment in Allegany County District Court and received two years’ supervised probation. He was ordered to complete an alcohol assessment in connection with the June traffic stop from which the charges originated.
“Maryland has very strict laws with respect to driving, many of which I have voted for, and having even one or two alcoholic drinks before operating a vehicle is a poor idea,” Buckel said in a text message Monday. “My judgment and my responsibilities to my family, my constituents and my community will reflect that reality going forward without question.”
Buckel’s supervised probation will be modified to unsupervised once he completes that assessment.
The delegate said that assessment should be completed by Tuesday.
The sentence is in addition to a 270-day suspension of his driver’s license related to the incident.
Buckel, 52, was charged in June after a late-night traffic stop in Allegany County. He said at the time that he had just left a “sports-themed restaurant” where he had been watching a professional hockey game. The delegate described himself as “not much of a drinker” and said he would “rarely drink more than the occasional glass of wine or beer with dinner or at a sporting event.”
Maryland State Police said they pulled Buckel over around 11:23 p.m. The delegate was driving a gray 2021 Mercedes-Benz east along National Highway near Campground Road in LaVale — roughly a mile and a half from Buckel’s home.
He was charged with driving under the influence, driving while impaired by alcohol, driving on a suspended license, failure to show registration and negligent driving.
The plea to a misdemeanor will not jeopardize Buckel’s seat in the House of Delegates.
An elected official in Maryland is required to give up their office under two circumstances. The first is if they are found guilty or enter a plea of guilty plea or of nolo contendere for any felony. An official would also lose their position if they were found guilty or entered a guilty plea for any misdemeanor related to their official duties, or to a crime of moral turpitude which carries a jail sentence.
Under an Alford plea, the defendant disputes the charges while acknowledging prosecutors have enough evidence to obtain a conviction.
“While I maintain that I did not operate any vehicle unlawfully, and prosecutors who reviewed the original charges had already dismissed almost all of them including those that provided me a right to a trial by jury that I intended to elect, in the interests of resolving this unfortunate situation and in light of my lifetime of support for the men and women in law enforcement, I have accepted full responsibility for my actions and have learned a valuable lesson,” Buckel said.