The NFL suspended San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York for six games Friday following his arrest earlier this year in a prostitution sting in Ohio. The league announced that York was also fined $500,000 for violating the league's personal conduct policy, one of the harshest punishments ever handed down to a team owner.
York was arrested in a mobile home park by the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force after police said he was attempting to pay $160 for sex with a woman he believed to be a prostitute. He had responded to an undercover online prostitution advertisement, investigators said. York was booked into jail and released after posting a $5,000 bond. He was initially charged with engaging in prostitution, but prosecutors amended the charge to disorderly conduct. He pleaded no contest to that charge and to possessing criminal tools for using his phone to respond to the undercover ad.
He was sentenced to one day in jail for both offenses, to be served concurrently, and was credited with one day served when he pleaded no contest. He was also fined $1,150. Police seized the $160 from York, and it was later given to the human trafficking task force as part of the plea. York also completed an online course.
York has not attended any games or league meetings so far this season and was credited with three games served. He is eligible to return on October 20, following the team's game the previous night against Washington. The NFL's fall league meetings begin that day in New York.
York said in a statement released by the team that he accepts the punishment given by the league and apologized for his actions. He told his family, the players, coaches and employees of the 49ers, the fans and partners that he was deeply sorry, calling it an inexcusable mistake for which he takes full responsibility. He said leading the 49ers is a privilege he does not take lightly, and that trust will have to be earned back over time.
Owners have been punished for violating the personal conduct policy before. The late Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay was suspended for six games and fined $500,000 following a guilty plea to driving while impaired in 2014. 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 at a massage parlor; the charge was later dropped after a court ruled police violated the rights of Kraft and other customers when they secretly installed video cameras inside the spa.
The suspension caps a tumultuous year for York, who had spent most of the summer in Ohio, where he grew up near Youngstown. Court records show he filed for divorce from his wife, Danielle, in May. Coach Kyle Shanahan has said ownership has deferred to him and general manager John Lynch on football decisions during York's absence.