WEST PITTSTON — A 71-year-old man from Harding was arrested Wednesday after police said he threatened a judge in Luzerne County with his gun.
District Judge Joseph Carmody in West Pittston found Harry Yaletsko guilty of harassment and ordered him to pay a $200 fine on Wednesday morning. Now, because of what Yaletsko said in court, he’s locked up on $250,000 bail and facing more serious charges.
“I said I was going to get my 44 magnum and that was it,” Yaletsko said to Newswatch 16 after his arraignment in district court in Wyoming.
Photographer Michael Erat asked, “What were you going to do with it?”
Yaletsko replied, “Protection.”
According to court papers, after Yaletsko said his gun remark, Judge Carmody said, “are you threatening me? Because I just took that as a threat.”
Yaletsko was charged with terroristic threats, harassment, and disorderly conduct after what he said to Judge Carmody.
He is not allowed to contact Magistrate Carmody or his family.
He is also not allowed to contact the victims of the harassment case in which he was found guilty and he has to give his guns to police.
Yaletsko is due back in court for his preliminary hearing in mid-February.
