March 16, 2012 at 5:24 p.m.
Bond modified in Dalka 'bath salt' case
After he completes in-patient treatment for substance abuse later this month, Patrick Dalka will be free on a $2,500 signature bond.
Dalka, 34, is charged with possessing and delivering MDPV (methylenedioxypyrovalerone, a substance commonly found in the designer drug known as bath salts) and neglecting a child.
He was being held on $2,500 cash bail but Judge Patrick O'Melia agreed on Wednesday it would be in Dalka's best interest not to return to the jail after completing substance abuse treatment.
O'Melia said in his experience it is often "counterproductive" for people who have successfully completed in-patient treatment to return to a jail setting.
Oneida County District Attorney Mike Bloom did not oppose the modification but did request strict conditions be imposed, including that Dalka not leave the county.
Dalka was charged Feb. 3 after his wife asked authorities to search her vehicle for explosives.
According to the complaint, Dalka's wife told authorities her husband told her he put two quarter sticks of dynamite in her car. She also told officers her husband had been "hallucinating in the middle of the night for no explainable reason" and had advised her he is the "middle man" for drug dealing.
The child neglect charge stems from an allegation Dalka took his pajama-clad infant son outside in subzero temperatures while high on bath salts.
According to the National Institutes of Health website, bath salts is a common name for a powerful, designer stimulant drug that mimics the effects of cocaine and methamphetamine. It is believed the name bath salts is used because the substance looks similar to bath salts commonly used for soaking in bathtubs.
Dalka faces up to 14 years in prison if convicted of all charges.
A pretrial conference in this case was set for April 17.
Heather Schaefer may be reached at [email protected].
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