Former Leechburg police Chief Diebold granted re-parole
Former Leechburg police Chief Michael Diebold could soon be released from jail after a Westmoreland County judge agreed this week to grant his re-parole.
Diebold, 43, has been in jail since Dec. 9, 2019, after he was accused of violating terms of his parole from a 9-to-23-month jail sentence for sex offenses.
He pleaded guilty in December 2018 to charges that he attempted to solicit sex via the internet from an undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old girl.
Following his guilty plea, Diebold was paroled in January 2019 but jailed again last December after prosecutors said he violated his parole when he allegedly solicited women using an online social media app catering to sexual fetishes. Those charges were filed in Armstrong County.
Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio earlier this year rejected Diebold’s bid for early release and ordered that he remain held until a hearing could be scheduled on the allegations that he violated terms of his parole.
In court on Thursday, Bilik-DeFazio ruled that because Diebold had now served a total of nearly two years in jail, the time was right to approve his release. The judge formally revoked Diebold’s parole and re-sentenced him to serve the balance of his maximum sentence. She gave Diebold credit for the time he served in jail and re-paroled him to the Armstrong County Jail.
Bilik-DeFazio also re-sentenced Diebold to serve another three years on probation and reinstated requirements that he not use a computer or possess a smartphone or other devices with internet capabilities.
As of Friday afternoon, Diebold was still at the Westmoreland jail.
“We’re going to post bond as soon as possible,” said defense attorney Duke George. “We’re trying to post bond and get him released from Westmoreland’s jail.”
Diebold’s bond in Armstrong County is $25,000.
He was charged last year with two felony counts accusing him of not complying with a requirement that he properly register as a sex offender.
The case in Armstrong County is still pending and according to court records is scheduled for trial on Jan. 11.
Rich Cholodofsky is a TribLive reporter covering Westmoreland County government, politics and courts. He can be reached at rcholodofsky@triblive.com.
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