NFL suspends 49ers owner Jed York six games after Ohio arrest
The NFL has suspended San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York for six games and fined him $500,000 for violating the league's personal conduct policy, its rules for behavior off the field. The Guardian
The league credited York with three games already served. He will sit out three more. He is eligible to return on 20 October, after the 49ers play Washington the night before.
The discipline follows York's arrest in Ohio in a sting at a mobile home park run by the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force. Police said he was attempting to pay $160 for sex with a woman he believed to be a prostitute. Investigators said he answered a fake online prostitution ad placed by undercover officers multiple times and used a pseudonym when he replied. Reuters
He was booked into jail and released after posting a $5,000 bond. Prosecutors first charged him with engaging in prostitution. They later amended the charge to disorderly conduct.
York entered a no contest plea to disorderly conduct and to possessing criminal tools. A no contest plea means a defendant does not admit guilt but accepts punishment. In this case, police said the criminal-tools charge referred to using his phone to respond to the undercover ad.
A court sentenced him to one day in jail on both offenses, to be served concurrently, with credit for one day already served. He was fined $1,150 in the criminal case. The $160 seized at the time of the arrest was given to the human trafficking task force as part of the plea agreement. Court records also show he completed an online course as part of the resolution.
York leads the 49ers ownership group. Through 49ers Enterprises, he also holds stakes in Leeds United in England and Rangers in Scotland.
For fans, this means San Francisco will close out the punishment without its principal owner in his usual role for three more games. It is a short absence. It also puts a strange and unwelcome off-field episode behind a team trying to stay focused on the season.
