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Pa. Judge Pays $438, Says Sorry for Being Drunk, Naked in Hotel

By Cynthia Hsu, Esq. on June 28, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Nothing says "I'm sorry for being drunk, naked and disorderly in a hotel" like $438.

Pennsylvania District Judge Douglas Gummo paid a $438 fine after pleading guilty to harassment charges arising out of a strange incident in a hotel in Cumberland County, reports WHTM-TV.

Drunk and only wearing a bed sheet, the judge was reportedly trying to enter the room of another judge, a woman.

He tried to get into her room three times in 40 minutes, the AP reports. He must have really, really wanted to get inside that room.

Prosecutors had originally charged him with public drunkenness and disorderly conduct as well, but later dropped those charges, reports the AP.

And, apparently Judge Gummo's foray into over-exposure at the hotel did not cost him his job. The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts said that Gummo is still an active judge and is on the state's payroll, reports the APO.

Judge Gummo's $438 fine was accompanied with an equally as important apology to the beleaguered female judge whose room he was trying to get into that fateful night. He also told the court that he was taking steps to deal with his problems, reports the AP.

Hopefully, Judge Gummo and the female judge do not preside in the same courthouse. If they do, it would definitely make for some awkward run-ins in the hallway.

And, like in most cases where judges get busted for something kind of embarrassing - and certainly something like being drunk and only wearing a bed sheet while arrested is high up there on that list - one can only wonder what the attorneys, plaintiffs and defendants whose cases he was presiding over are gossiping about.

Poor Judge Douglas Gummo. $438 short, and probably publicly humiliated.

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