Former Westmoreland County sheriff's retrial set for March

The public corruption retrial for former Westmoreland County Sheriff Jonathan Held is scheduled for March, more than two years after voters ousted him from office.

The case against the two-term sheriff has been in limbo since Held’s first trial ended in December 2018 with jurors unable to reach a unanimous verdict in the case. Held, 47, almost immediately appealed a court ruling that cleared the way for the prosecution to continue after the mistrial.

Held argued there was insufficient evidence to warrant another trial and another prosecution should be barred.

Senior Judge Timothy Creany rejected that defense argument, and the Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled last year it did not have jurisdiction to rule on the merits of Held’s appeal because the prosecution was still ongoing in Common Pleas Court. In August, the state’s Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal.

Creany ordered jury selection for the retrial to begin March 21, according to a court order filed on Wednesday.

Prosecutors claim Held, a Republican, directed on-duty deputies and other staffers to perform work for his successful re-election campaign in 2015. Witnesses claimed Held ordered county employees and uniformed personnel to solicit donations for fundraisers and complete chores associated with the campaign.

Held, formerly of Hempfield, maintained his innocence and said the allegations made by sheriff’s department staffers were part of political vendetta to oust him from office.

He was defeated in his bid for a third term in 2019 by James Albert.

Defense attorney Ryan Tutera said Wednesday the former sheriff, who has relocated to Florida, is seeking a quick resolution to the case.

“He was hopeful he could move on but, apparently, we need to defend our position in court once again,” Tutera said.

The defense presented no witnesses during the first four-day trial.

After several hours of deliberations the jury returned to the courtroom and announced it had found Held guilty of two offenses, conflict of interest and theft of services. As each juror was asked individually to affirm that verdict in open court, one recanted and said he did not agree with the guilty finding. After another 30 minutes of deliberations failed to result in a unanimous verdict, the judge declared a mistrial.

Held’s ouster from office by voters was not considered as part of the decision to retry Held, according to a statement issued Wednesday by Molly Stieber, a spokesperson for Attorney General Josh Shapiro.

“The fact that the defendant lost his election and was forced to leave office does not absolve him of criminal culpability for actions taken while in office. He must be held accountable as any other defendant would be, without fear or favor,” according to the statement.