Here’s All The Court Documents Jed York Asked To Be Sealed
On Monday, the day after his arrest on a criminal charge of engaging in prostitution—later pleaded down to disorderly conduct—San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York, through his lawyer, submitted a motion in his criminal case. Specifically, he asked to the court to seal all records related to it.
His stated justification? The owner’s request, which you can see in full by clicking here, gave a bit of background on the case before outlining the following reasons:
2. The Defendant is an eligible offender as defined by R.C. §2953.31.
3. There are no criminal proceedings pending against the Defendant.
4. The Defendant has been satisfactorily rehabilitated and poses no risk of recidivism.
5. The Defendant’s interest in having the official records pertaining to the cases sealed outweighs any legitimate need of the government to maintain those records.
No other details were given about York’s “interest” in having the records kept unavailable to the public. The judge denied the request, which is why they’re here.
So what is it that York wanted to keep out of the public eye? The documents provide more details about what happened leading up to the Aug. 23 arrest; they’ve been providing the steady stream of news articles about the arrest since the news broke. The complaint affidavit, which you can read by clicking here, said that York initially was charged with one count of misdemeanor engaging in prostitution and one count of possessing criminal tools. A sworn law enforcement officer told the court the following:
Affiant states that an undercover ad was posted on a known prostitution website.
Affiant states that the defendant responded to the posted ad, and arrange to have sexual activity with the female in exchange for $140.
Affiant states that the defendant arrived at the meeting location and was found to have in his possession his cellular device which was used to arrange the criminal act.
(In all other documents, the amount York agreed to pay is stated as $160. There’s no explanation for the discrepancy in the affidavit.)
More details about the arrest have come from the case report. This was not a court record; it was released by the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force. (The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the area of York’s arrest has been a “hot spot” for law enforcement stings.)
You can read the case report in full by clicking here.
York was released from custody following him posting a bail bond of $5,000, according to court records.
The rest of the court file is fairly standard documentation: A receipt. York’s waiver of his rights. The plea agreement. The judgment entry, which confirms that York pleaded down the prostitution charge to disorderly conduct and was sentenced on that and possession of criminal tools to one day in jail. The same document says York completed an online course—it does not name the course, nor say where or when he took it—and that York would get his phone back.
As for the $160 York had brought with him? That was kept by the task force.
You can view all the documents in the case by clicking here.
