State AG's office will retry Westmoreland County sheriff
The Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office will retry Westmoreland County Sheriff Jonathan Held on public corruption charges after the case against him ended in mistrial, a spokesman said Monday.
Sheriff Held, 44, of Claridge, is accused of directing on-duty deputies to collect political contributions for his 2015 reelection bid, allegations the sheriff denies.
"I'm not surprised," said Ryan Tutera, Sheriff Held's attorney, of the AG's decision to retry. "Just by the nature of the case. We contemplated that [prosecutors] would do it, even on Friday night when they left the courthouse.”
On Friday, a Westmoreland County jury deliberated for several hours and returned a guilty verdict on charges of conflict of interest — a felony — and diversion of services connected with allegations that the sheriff had county employees work on his re-election campaign on county time and with public resources. A count of theft by unlawful taking was dismissed during the first trial and cannot be refiled, Mr. Tutera said.
Read more: https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2018/12/10/Westmoreland-County-sheriff-Jonathan-Held-retry-mistrial-Pennsylvania-Josh-Shapiro/stories/201812100117
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