Former Westmoreland sheriff Jon Held pleads guilty to theft charge, gets probation

Jonathan Held, the former Westmoreland County sheriff once tried by state prosecutors in a public corruption case, pleaded guilty Thursday to a misdemeanor theft charge. A judge sentenced him to serve six months on probation.

Held, 48, formerly of Hempfield, lives in Cape Coral, Fla.

As part of his plea deal, he paid $2,680 in restitution to Westmoreland County. Prosecutors dismissed the felony charge of conflict of interest.

In court Thursday, Held briefly paused then softly announced “yes” when asked by senior Common Pleas Judge Timothy Creany if he would plead guilty to the one remaining charge.

“I’ve been a law abiding citizen my whole life. I’m a good man who got caught up in politics and learned from my mistakes,” Held said.

Held, a Republican who spent two terms in office, was accused of directing sheriff’s deputies and office employees to perform duties for his reelection campaigns while they were on the clock. Prosecutors said that between June 1, 2015, and Dec. 31, 2017, Held forced uniformed employees to collect donations for campaign fundraisers and affix campaign stickers to snack-sized bags of pretzels handed out in the office.

Jim Albert defeated Held in the November 2019 election.

“Mr. Held directed law enforcement officers to collect campaign contributions while they were on duty,” Attorney General Josh Shapiro said. “This is theft from the taxpayers of the Commonwealth and compromises public safety. Nobody is above the law, and we will keep holding public officials accountable when they break the law.”

A trial on the original charges against Held ended in December 2018 with jurors unable to reach a unanimous verdict in the case.

Jury selection for Held’s retrial was slated to begin Monday.

Defense attorney Ryan Tutera, as he did following the 2018 trial, said the evidence against Held was fabricated by disgruntled employees but said Thursday’s guilty plea was in the former sheriff’s best interest.

“He wanted to get it over with,” Tutera said. “He’s moved on with his life. He got caught up in politics. He wasn’t the first politician this happened to, and he won’t be the last politician this happened to.”

Held has always maintained his innocence. His lawyers appealed, arguing there was insufficient evidence to warrant another trial and another prosecution should be barred.

The trial judge rejected that defense argument. The Pennsylvania Superior Court said it did not have jurisdiction to rule on the merits of the appeal because of the ongoing prosecution, and the state’s Supreme Court refused to hear the matter.

Deputy Attorney General Evan Lowry on Thursday asked that Held be ordered to serve to up to one year on probation, while Tutera requested no additional sentence be imposed.

The judge said Held can return to Florida and report by telephone to the Westmoreland County probation office. Held also was ordered to pay a $100 fine and relinquish his firearms to Florida authorities during his probation term.

“You’ve already paid a price for this crime, in the prior trial particularly. That penalty was already served and suffered by you. You’ve relocated and started anew and that speaks to your character, and I hope you can continue as you have and move beyond this part of your life,” Creany said.