Ex-mayor of Harrisburg gets 305 charges dropped

HARRISBURG — Former Harrisburg Mayor Stephen Reed won the dismissal of 305 of the 449 charges against him Monday in a case in which prosecutors accused Reed of illegally spending public money to buy thousands of artifacts for museums that were never built.

Senior Judge Kevin Hess of Dauphin County Common Pleas Court agreed with Reed's lawyer, Henry E. Hockeimer Jr., that the statute of limitations had expired on the counts that were dismissed.

However, Hess left intact charges that investigators allegedly found scores of the city-owned artifacts in Reed's home or a separate storage facility. Among them: a life-size sarcophagus, a full suit of armor and a life-size buffalo head. Also remaining among the 144 charges are accusations Reed attempted to sell the firearms on consignment.

“We're pleased with the decision,” Hockeimer said. “We believe that this has been an ill-conceived prosecution from the start, and we look forward to vigorously contesting the remaining charges at trial.”

A trial date has not been scheduled for Reed, 66. Prosecutors say that during his 28 years in office, he obtained the money for the purchases by secretly diverting funds borrowed by municipal agencies and other entities for other purposes that helped the debt-laden city careen toward bankruptcy.

Hockeimer has argued that Reed carried out the activities in public view with signoff from other government agencies. Reed left office in January 2010, and Hess ruled the statute of limitations expired in January 2015, six months before Reed was charged.

The state attorney general's office could not immediately say whether it would appeal Monday's decision. It had argued that the statute of limitations should have run another eight years.

“I don't agree with the judge's interpretation of the statute in question and the office is still deciding whether to appeal the decision to a higher court,” Deputy Attorney General Rebecca S. Franz said in a statement.