By David DeKok
HARRISBURG, Pa. (Reuters) - A sweeping corruption case against a former mayor of Pennsylvania’s capital city Harrisburg ended on Monday when he pleaded guilty to 20 counts of receiving stolen artifacts bought with public funds for a proposed museum that was never built in the city.
Former Mayor Stephen R. Reed, 67, made the plea on the morning when jury selection in his trial was scheduled to begin in Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dropped 94 other counts.
Reed, who was originally charged in 2015 with nearly 500 criminal counts, could receive up to nine months in prison under state sentencing guidelines when Judge Kevin Hess sentences him on Friday, although he may only get probation.
Many of the more serious charges, including bribery and siphoning money from bond issues, were dismissed last year on statute of limitations grounds.
"Today’s guilty plea marks the final chapter in a case that has gone on for several years," said Deputy Attorney General Rebecca Frantz. "This will help the city of Harrisburg to move on."
Reed, known as an avid private collector of Civil War and American West memorabilia during his 28 years in office, pleaded guilty to illegal possession of 20 historical documents and photographs with a total value of more than $18,000.
The artifacts were among thousands acquired by Reed with public funds for a proposed Museum of the American West that he had hoped to build in financially strapped Harrisburg.
After his plea, Reed told reporters he experienced "gut-wrenching humiliation and embarrassment" over his arrest, after serving as Harrisburg’s mayor for decades.
He said many of the artifacts seized from his home and warehouse during a raid in 2015 were legally owned by him, but similar to ones acquired with public funds for the museum.
He believes the 20 items in the plea were accidentally placed in boxes of his own papers after he hastily left office following his defeat in 2010, but acknowledged the packing was done under his supervision.
"The precepts of my faith require that I take responsibility for this error, and that was my ultimate deciding factor in doing this plea," Reed said.
A hearing is scheduled in March on Reed’s petition for the return of artifacts he believes belong to him. Frantz said prosecutors would oppose that request.
Harrisburg has been under state financial supervision since 2011, primarily because of cost overruns on an incinerator retrofit project.