Pianowski sentenced for driving high on heroin

Kyle Pianowski

NEW SCOTLAND — Following his Feb. 22 arrest on Western Avenue in Guilderland, Kyle Pianowski, of New Scotland, was sentenced this week to two to six years in state prison for driving while high on heroin.

On April 2, Pianowski pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated – impaired by drugs, a felony.

His sentence will be served concurrent with a sentence of one to three years for violation of felony probation from a previous driving while intoxicated sentence involving alcohol.

On Feb. 22, New York State Troopers observed Pianowski using a portable electronic device while driving, and committing Vehicle and Traffic Law violations on Western Avenue in Guilderland, according to information provided by Cecilia Walsh, public information officer for the Albany County District Attorney’s Office, events unfolded this way:

After pulling him over, the Troopers discovered that Pianowski was driving without a license or an interlock ignition device, which violated his felony probation from a previous sentence; the device prevents intoxicated people from driving.

Pianowski was removed from his car, and, while searching the vehicle, Troopers found four envelopes of heroin, 10 hydrocodone pills, and a hypodermic needle.

He was then transferred to the New York State Police barracks and a drug-recognition expert was called to perform advanced field sobriety tests. Pianowski admitted to injecting heroin prior to operating the vehicle.

Pianowski was charged with first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle, criminal possession of a hypodermic instrument, seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, use of vehicle without interlock-ignition device, unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, and driving while using a portable electronic device.

His previous conviction is from March 2010 for a misdemeanor, driving while intoxicated with alcohol, to which he received a conditional discharge, fines, and a license revocation. He committed another DWI offense in May 2010, violating his conditional discharge.

In September 2010, he was convicted of driving while intoxicated, a felony, and sentenced to six months in jail as well as five years of felony probation.

Pianowski also had active warrants, one from Rotterdam, and one from Schenectady, at the time of his arrest in February.

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