San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York pleaded no contest to criminal charges Monday after being booked on suspicion of solicitation of prostitution in Ohio over the weekend, according to court records.
York pleaded no contest to misdemeanor disorderly conduct and possessing criminal tools during a court appearance Monday morning. An administrative judge found him guilty following the plea and ordered him to pay just under $1,300 in fines and court costs.
York was arrested Sunday morning at a mobile home community in East Palestine, near where he was born and raised in Youngstown. He was booked into the Columbiana County Jail just after 10:40 a.m. Sunday, according to a jail official.
Court records show that York initially was charged with engaging in prostitution, but prosecutors amended that to disorderly conduct. York was charged with possessing criminal tools for using his phone to respond to an undercover online prostitution advertisement, according to prosecutors.
York posted $5,000 bail and was released before 5 p.m. Sunday, according to the jail official.
As part of Monday’s court proceedings, the judge ordered York’s cellphone returned to him. However, $160 in cash seized by police will be forfeited to the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force, according to court records.
Columbiana County Prosecutor Vito Abruzzino said most of these prostitution cases typically end in plea agreements.
“Each case is looked at individually and for specific facts of the conduct, what evidence the police provide, and input from the arresting officer,” he said in an email. “You also have to factor in criminal history of the defendant, and whether or not they have committed these types of offenses in the past, and importantly, what the judges will allow.”
Legal analyst Steven Clark said the public may never know all the details of the case.
“What Mr. York is trying to do now is get his case expunged so that we will not have access to the police reports,” Clark said. “There could be some very salacious details in there that certainly would not look good in the court of public opinion.”
The NFL issued a statement saying the league was aware of the arrest and would review it under the personal conduct policy. Owners are subject to possible fines or suspensions for violating the personal conduct policy. New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was investigated but not punished by the league after he was arrested in Florida in 2019 for allegedly paying for sex with a woman at a massage parlor. The charge was later dropped after a court ruled that police violated the rights of Kraft and the other customers when they secretly installed video cameras inside massage rooms at the spa.
The 49ers also issued a statement Monday.
“As this is a legal matter, which has been resolved, we will not be providing any further comment at this time,” the team said in a statement.
York took over day-to-day control of the 49ers from his parents in 2008. He became the team’s principal owner in 2024. After some initial struggles under York’s leadership, the team has been a consistent contender since hiring coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch in 2017.
The Niners have made the Super Bowl three times under York’s leadership, losing in the 2012 season under coach Jim Harbaugh and the 2019 and ’23 seasons under Shanahan and Lynch.
York also oversaw the building of Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. The team moved from San Francisco to the new stadium in 2014. The stadium has hosted two Super Bowls, a World Cup and a College Football Playoff title game.
This story originally appeared on NBCBayArea.com.
