Patrick Russin, the man who became derisively known as “Pat the Rat” for testifying against notorious killer Hugo Selenski, pleaded guilty Tuesday to disorderly conduct charges.
Russin, 56, of Dallas, had been charged with resisting arrest and ethnic intimidation stemming from his arrest at the Dallas Twp. police headquarters on April 11, 2024.
According to prosecutors, Russin went to the headquarters to pick up some property related to a previous incident when police discovered he had a federal arrest warrant in a drug-trafficking case. Russin began to struggle with police and told a Hispanic officer to “go back to the border where your cousins came from,” according to the charges.
In exchange for Russin’s plea to disorderly conduct charges, prosecutors withdrew the resisting arrest and ethnic intimidation counts as well as drug possession charges in an unrelated case.
Luzerne County Judge David W. Lupas accepted the plea and immediately sentenced Russin to two to six months in jail. The sentence will be served concurrently with a seven-year federal prison sentence Russin is serving for dealing methamphetamine in the drug-trafficking case.
Russin acquired the “Pat the Rat” sobriquet after testifying that he shot and killed two drug dealers during a crack deal at Selenski’s Kingston Twp. home in 2003.
He was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison on third-degree murder and robbery charges, and was released on parole in January 2016.
Selenski, 52, was beat the murder charges in that case but was later convicted in another double-murder case. He is serving life in prison without parole at State Correctional Institution at Houtzdale.