Blakely man pleads guilty in Olyphant illegal fireworks case; wife accepted into ARD
May 30—SCRANTON — A Blakely man arrested last year after police found illegal fireworks stored at a vacant Olyphant storefront pleaded guilty Tuesday to risking a catastrophe, along with an unrelated drug delivery charge.
John Bilski, 57, entered the plea during a brief appearance with his attorney, Edmund Scacchitti, before Lackawanna County Judge Andy Jarbola.
Jarbola also agreed to accept Bilski's wife, Angela, 43, the listed owner of the Olyphant property where the fireworks were discovered, into the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program.
The proceedings came a year to the day after Olyphant police officers investigating an open back door at 129-131 W. Lackawanna Ave. in the borough found fireworks stacked almost to the ceiling in the building's rear and more on shelves, according to investigators.
In all, police seized enough fireworks from the vacant property to fill three trailers.
Police charged the Bilskis, both of 430 Delaware St., with risking a catastrophe and other offenses.
John Bilski was arrested again in Olyphant in March after investigators say he sold buprenorphine, a prescription medication used to treat opioid dependence, to a confidential informant in the presence of his teenage daughter.
After Deputy District Attorney Tim Doherty outlined the details of the charges, Jarbola asked John Bilski if he admitted to the facts.
The defendant said he did.
John Bilski faces a maximum of seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine for risking a catastrophe and up to five years and a $15,000 fine on the delivery of a controlled substance count.
Jarbola, who noted the court could impose consecutive sentences on the charges, set no date for sentencing pending completion of a presentence investigation.
Contact the writer: dsingleton@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9132
