Public corruption retrial of Westmoreland sheriff Held likely off until after primary

An appeal filed by Westmoreland County Sheriff Jonathan Held seeking to reverse a judge’s refusal to dismiss public corruption charges is expected to delay his retrial until after the May primary election.

Held, 44, of Hempfield is awaiting his second trial on charges he forced on-duty sheriff’s department staff to perform campaign tasks for his 2015 re-election bid. A three-day trial in December ended in a mistrial after jurors deadlocked 11-1 to convict Held on one felony count of conflict of interest and a misdemeanor theft charge.

Senior Common Pleas Judge Timothy Creany of Cambria County, who presided over the first trial, in late December rejected a defense motion seeking to bar prosecutors from retrying Held. Defense lawyer Ryan Tutera claimed the hung jury required Creany to acquit Held. In court documents made public Monday, an appeal of the judge’s ruling was filed with the state Superior Court.

“We think the issue has merit,” Tutera said.

The judge ordered Tutera to submit a statement this month that details specific allegations in the appeal.

Creany had scheduled jury selection for Held’s second trial to begin April 1.

Deputy Court Administrator Pam Niederhiser said the appeal is likely to take months to litigate.

“At this point, I’m being told the trial will not occur in April,” Niederhiser said.

Held, a Republican, confirmed Monday he is planning to seek a third term in office and participate in the May 21 primary.

At least two candidates, including a former Greensburg police officer and a deputy who currently works in the sheriff’s office, are expected to challenge Held in the GOP primary.

Prosecutors have accused Held of directing his office staff to perform campaign fundraising chores as part of his previous re-election campaign. State agents said Held had on-duty and uniformed staffers collect items for a campaign fundraiser and used county equipment, computers and records to assist with those efforts.

Held has denied the allegations. During the December trial, his lawyer argued the allegations were a product of political differences and disgruntled staffers. Held did not testify and presented no witnesses during the trial.

Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Rich at 724-830-6293 or rcholodofsky@tribweb.com.