Court upholds ruling granting ex-state Rep. Stephen Stetler a new trial

Carolyn Simpson, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, said in an email that it is reviewing the decision to determine the next steps.

(York) — A judge made the correct decision when he awarded a new trial to former state Rep. Stephen Stetler, D-York, who was convicted on public corruption charges in 2012 and served 16 months, the Pennsylvania Superior Court has ruled.

Dauphin County Common Pleas Judge John F. Cherry in 2017 ruled that Stetler received ineffective assistance of counsel and threw out his convictions. That’s because his attorney allowed the judge overseeing the trial, Todd A. Hoover, to enter the deliberation room and answer juror questions without being present.

In an eight-page decision, Superior Court Judge Paula Francisco Ott wrote that Stetler was denied his constitutional right to counsel at a critical stage of the proceedings, thus tainting the entire trial.

Stetler, 68, represented the 95th District, which includes York, West York, Spring Garden Township and part of West Manchester Township, from 1991 to 2006. He was found guilty of conflict of interest, criminal conspiracy and four counts of theft on allegations that he used House staffers to work on fundraising and campaign activities on state time.

He was sentenced to 1 1/2 to five years, but served the time in York County Prison. Stetler was also fined $35,000 and ordered to pay more than $466,500 in restitution.

John Uhler, Stetler’s attorney, could not immediately be reached.

Carolyn Simpson, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, said in an email that it is reviewing the decision to determine the next steps.

This story comes to us through a partnership between WITF and The York Daily Record.