Former Indiana County district judge charged by state police with DUI, child endangerment

A former Indiana County district judge who practices law in Latrobe faces a hearing next month in a drunken-driving case filed by state police, who said they pulled her over and accused her of driving erratically, according to court records.

State police stopped a 2021 Honda Pilot driven by Jennifer J. Rega, 47, of Blairsville about 9 p.m. Dec. 7 on North Walnut Street in the borough. Trooper Charles Smolleck reported he watched as the SUV was weaving and “straddling” the double yellow line four times.

After initiating a traffic stop, Smolleck reported in court documents he smelled an odor of alcohol when he approached the driver’s door. Rega initially handed Smolleck her Sam’s Club membership card by mistake when he asked to see her driver’s license.

“Rega asked if I was new to the area and proceeded to tell me she was the magistrate in Blairsville for the past 20 years,” Smolleck reported, noting he saw an adult male in the front passenger seat and two children, 11 and 14 in the back.

Rega served 18 years as district judge in Blairsville from 2002 through 2019, when she was defeated for a fourth term by former Indiana County District Attorney Robert Bell.

Though Rega denied imbibing alcohol, she was taken into custody after she failed three field sobriety tests, Smolleck reported. A blood test at Indiana Regional Medical Center showed she had a blood-alcohol content of 0.11%. A driver in Pennsylvania is considered legally intoxicated with a reading of 0.08%.

State police charged her with DUI and two counts of endangering the welfare of children, along with eight summary traffic violations.

While she was a district judge, Rega was temporarily suspended from her post after state police charged her in 2014 with failing to stop at the scene of a traffic accident along Route 286 in Cherryhill, also in Indiana County.

Rega was admitted to the accelerated rehabilitative disposition program for first-time, nonviolent offenders in that case.

During her year in the ARD program, she was ordered to undergo a drug and alcohol evaluation and pay $900 in court costs. She continued to draw her $86,899 annual salary while on administrative leave.

A message seeking comment from Rega left at the Latrobe law office where she works was not immediately returned. She did not have an attorney listed in court documents.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled March 17 before Bell.