Published: May 09, 2008 11:56 am         

Oakland man sentenced on drug charges

OAKLAND - An Oakland man was sentenced on four charges and found not guilty on another in Garrett County Circuit Court.

Timothy Michael Kubica, 48, was sentenced to seven years with all but six months suspended for charges of possession of a controlled dangerous substance, two counts of reckless endangerment and DUI.

The charges for possession came from an arrest made in February when Kubica reportedly made threats to burn down the house he shared with his wife and cause harm to himself. He was found not guilty of attempted arson and related charges Tuesday when his wife used spousal privilege not to testify against him.

When Kubica was arrested, he was searched at the Garrett County Jail and was found to have the prescription drug Xanax on him.

The charges for reckless endangerment stemmed from an incident in January when Kubica was seen in the parking lot of a local business waving a gun during an argument with his wife. Two people at the business reported the gun had been pointed in their direction during the argument, causing them to take cover.

Kubica was arrested in October for DUI after a Garrett County sheriff's deputy saw him staggering to his vehicle and pull out of the parking lot of a bar in the Crellin area. He was pulled over and failed a field sobriety test.

On Tuesday, Kubica was sentenced to six months for the DUI conviction, three years for each of the reckless endangerment charges, and six months for the possession of CDS.

The sentences were to run consecutively, however, all but six months were suspended. Kubica will be on probation upon his release from the Garrett County Jail, with conditions that include in-patient substance abuse treatment.