A Johnstown anesthesiologist has been sentenced to four months to four years in jail after apologizing and pleading guilty to his eighth drunken driving offense.
Dr. Ashok Padhiar, 56, told the Cambria County judge who sentenced him Thursday that he is "ashamed, humiliated and humbled.''
The doctor was arrested Oct. 29 after he was found unconscious in his parked vehicle, with two-and-a-half empty bottles of champagne cognac. His blood-alcohol content was three times the legal limit.
Padhiar has five DUI convictions in Ohio and one each in Michigan and Illinois between 1989 and 2002, according to the Tribune-Democrat.
The doctor also lost his license for 18 months and says he is no longer practicing medicine.
"I have to pick up the pieces and get my profession back," Padhiar said.
Dr. Padhiar will get credit for the time he spent in a rehab center, so he'll be in the county jail for 53 days, then under house arrest for another year.
