49ers owner Jed York pleads no contest after Ohio prostitution sting

San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York was arrested in Ohio on Sunday, Aug. 23, on suspicion of engaging in prostitution during an undercover sting, and pleaded no contest the next day to two misdemeanor charges, according to Columbiana County court records obtained by ESPN.

York, 46, a Los Altos Hills, California, resident, entered his plea on Monday, Aug. 24, to disorderly conduct and possessing criminal tools after prosecutors amended the original prostitution count. He paid $1,150 in fines and was sentenced to one day in jail on each charge, both served concurrently, with credit for the time he had already spent in custody.

Police in East Palestine, a village in Columbiana County near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, arrested York at 9:35 a.m. at the Wheat Hill Mobile Home Community, an arrest report from the East Palestine Police Department shows. The department assisted the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force, a multi-agency operation that runs undercover stings against prostitution and human trafficking across the region.

How the sting worked

The task force posted an undercover ad on a known prostitution website, according to a supporting affidavit signed by Det. Daniel A. Haueter, an agent with the operation. York responded to the ad and arranged to meet a woman for sexual activity in exchange for $140, the affidavit states. Investigators had set up the listing specifically to identify people seeking to pay for sex.

York arrived at the meeting location carrying the cellphone that had been used to set up the encounter, the affidavit says. He was taken into custody at the trailer park and booked into the Columbiana County Jail, before appearing in court the next morning.

Authorities initially charged him with misdemeanor counts of engaging in prostitution and possessing criminal tools. Under Ohio law, the criminal tools charge refers to possessing a device such as a cellphone with intent to use it for a criminal purpose. Both counts were filed as first-degree misdemeanors, court records show, before the more serious of the two was reduced in the plea deal.

A judge later ordered York's cellphone returned to him. WKBN, a Youngstown-area television station, first reported the arrest, which spread nationally in part because East Palestine is the same town upended by a toxic train derailment in February 2023.

A plea that moved fast

The case reached a disposition within roughly 24 hours. By Monday morning, the local prosecutor had filed a plea arrangement, the engaging-in-prostitution count had been amended to disorderly conduct, and York had appeared in court to enter his plea. The speed of the resolution was unusual for a matter involving a nationally known figure, and it closed the criminal side of the story almost as quickly as it opened.

Of the $1,150 York paid, $150 covered the disorderly conduct charge and $1,000 the criminal tools charge, court records show. He was also ordered to pay standard court costs, which records indicate he has settled. The one-day jail sentences on each count ran concurrently, and the court credited him for time already served.

A no-contest plea means York does not acknowledge guilt but does not challenge the allegations against him. The court nonetheless entered guilty findings following the pleas, a distinction that matters for how the NFL may treat the case going forward.

As this is a legal matter, which has been resolved, we will not be providing any further comment at this time.

Columbiana County prosecutor Vito Abruzzino said he could not offer any additional details about the case beyond confirming that the charges were reduced as part of the plea agreement. York's attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment on either the arrest or the plea.

The league's next move

The NFL said it is aware of the matter and will review it under the league's personal conduct policy. Brian McCarthy, a league spokesman, confirmed the review. The statement stopped short of describing any timeline or potential penalty.

Commissioner Roger Goodell holds the authority to punish owners, executives, coaches and players for conduct detrimental to the league, a standard captured in the league constitution and several other governing documents. The phrase covers not only illegal acts but actions that damage the league's brand and its relationships with fans, politicians, broadcasters and apparel companies. Those relationships are part of what the standard is designed to protect.

The personal conduct policy bars behavior that is illegal, violent, dangerous or irresponsible, that puts innocent victims at risk, damages the reputation of others in the game, or undercuts public respect and support for the league. It applies to owners and executives as well as to players.

Goodell has said in past cases that the league conducts its own fact-finding and that the policy can be violated even when conduct does not result in a criminal conviction. York's payment of his fines and completion of his Ohio sentence does not necessarily close the book from the NFL's perspective. The league has also signaled it is sensitive to ensuring owners are treated as harshly as players for similar acts.

Precedents for punishing owners

Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay pleaded guilty in 2014 to a misdemeanor count of operating a vehicle while intoxicated. The NFL responded by suspending him for six games and fining him $500,000 for violating the personal conduct policy. During the suspension, Irsay was barred from the Colts' facility, one of the harsher penalties the league has imposed on an owner.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was charged in 2019 with two misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution at a Florida day spa. Those charges were dropped in 2020 after courts barred prosecutors from using surveillance video, and Kraft was never publicly disciplined by the league.

York's situation differs from Kraft's because his criminal case already reached a disposition, with guilty findings entered after his no-contest pleas. The league's six-game baseline, though, is tied to specific categories such as domestic violence and certain sexual assaults, not the misdemeanors York resolved on Monday. That leaves the scale of any discipline uncertain and largely at Goodell's discretion.

Who Jed York is

York is the principal owner of one of the NFL's marquee franchises. The York family owns more than 90% of the team, which Forbes ranked as the fifth-most valuable in the league in 2025, and has controlled it for decades. He is a son of co-chairs Denise DeBartolo York and John York, and the nephew of former owner Edward DeBartolo Jr.

We are aware of the matter which will be reviewed under the personal conduct policy.

He graduated from Notre Dame with degrees in finance and history, worked briefly as a financial analyst in New York, and joined the organization in 2005. He became chief executive in 2008 at the age of 28 and held the title until February. In 2024, he took the title of principal owner after buying enough equity from his mother, Denise DeBartolo York, to claim it.

Forbes puts the York family fortune at $8.5 billion. Under his control, the 49ers have won five NFC West titles, reached seven NFC Championship Games and played in three Super Bowls. The team went 12-5 last season and entered 2026 among the favorites in the conference, landing the distraction just weeks before the season opener.

A divorce filed in May

York petitioned for divorce from his wife, Danielle Belluomini, on May 11, citing irreconcilable differences, according to a Santa Clara County court filing. The couple married in 2011, had been together for more than 15 years, and has two sons, ages 13 and 10.

York is seeking joint legal and physical custody of the children, the petition shows. The filing came about three months before his arrest, and it is unclear what impact, if any, the divorce proceedings will have on his ability to continue owning the team.

The couple lives in Los Altos Hills. The divorce surfaced publicly only after the arrest drew scrutiny to York's personal life.

York's own path to ownership traces to a legal problem involving his uncle, Eddie DeBartolo Jr., who owned the 49ers from 1977 to 2000. DeBartolo pleaded guilty in 1998 to a felony count of failing to report an extortion attempt, after former Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards sought $400,000 from him to secure a riverboat casino license. The NFL suspended DeBartolo for the 1999 season and fined him $1 million, and he transferred control of the team to York's mother, Denise, in 2000. President Donald Trump pardoned him in 2020.