$3,300
Jed York → Ro for Congress
Rep. Ro Khanna. One contribution. The filing lists his employer as the San Francisco 49ers.
FEC · directJedYorkExposed.com · Public record · October 23, 2026
Give back Jed’s money.
Unseal his arrest record.
Make his NFL wrist slap a real punishment.
In August 2026, 49ers owner Jed York was arrested in an Ohio prostitution sting. He pleaded no contest after the charge was reduced. The NFL then suspended him and fined him $500,000. That fine is 0.11% of the national revenue his team shares.
- Charge reduced
- 2of 100
- Still served
- 3of 6
- The fine
- 0.11percent
Watch
The money did not stop.
KPIX | CBS News Bay Area.
01 — The record
What happened, and what did not happen to anyone else.
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Arrested at 9:35 a.m.
Agents of the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force arrested York at the Wheat Hill Mobile Home Community in East Palestine, Ohio, about 20 miles from his hometown of Youngstown. He had answered an undercover ad. Court documents say he arranged to pay $140 for sexual activity. Police seized $160 and his phone. He was booked on engaging in prostitution and possessing criminal tools, posted $5,000 bond, and spent the night in jail.
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A five-minute hearing.
The next morning, before Judge Danielle Menning, prosecutor Florence Turner amended the prostitution count to disorderly conduct. York pleaded no contest to that charge and to possessing criminal tools. Under Ohio law a no-contest plea is not a guilty plea. The court can still sentence on it. He got one day in jail on each count, concurrent, with credit for the day already served. No probation. No suspended jail term. A $1,150 fine. On the transcript obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle, his words were: “No contest, your Honor.”
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The league calls it discipline.
Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended York for six regular-season games and fined him $500,000 under the Personal Conduct Policy. Three games he had already missed were credited toward the ban. The punishment still to be served was three games. He was eligible to return on October 20.
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The suspension is already over.
York was back at league meetings. Goodell told reporters the policy “applies to owners, commissioners, everybody else, players,” and that “we saw a violation and we dealt with it.”
2of100
The Chronicle counted the other cases.
From January 1, 2026, through August 24 — the day York was sentenced — the San Francisco Chronicle reviewed similar prostitution cases in Columbiana County. York was one of only two defendants in 100 whose prostitution charge was reduced to disorderly conduct. A large majority of the others received a 90-day or 180-day suspended jail sentence. All but a handful got probation. York received neither.
The paper also reported that it found no indication his stature as an NFL owner produced the deal. Prosecutor Vito Abruzzino called the sentence “a routine disposition, not an outlier,” and said his office showed no favoritism. Ohio State law professor Ric Simmons, reading the same facts, called it an unusual disposition. “It does create a question of whether or not there was some selective judgment here,” he told the Chronicle. “It’s not conclusive proof.”
Court records list $1,285 in fines and fees as paid by “D Cory.” The Chronicle identified him as Dan Cory, the 49ers’ chief security officer. The $160 seized at the arrest was forfeited to the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force. York completed an online course.
“No contest, your Honor.”
“A routine disposition, not an outlier.”
“A question of whether or not there was some selective judgment here.”
Petition 01
Give back the money.
Unseal the arrest record.
To members of Congress, the California Legislature, the DCCC, every recipient of his campaign money, and the Columbiana County court and sheriff who hold the file.
Give the money back. Open the file.
The checks below were written before the arrest. They are legal. The people who cashed them have not said they will return them. When Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested, politicians in both parties gave the money back or donated the same amount to charity.
The public has the booking photo and a redacted police report. This petition asks Columbiana County to unseal the full arrest record: the police report, the booking file, and the court record.
The checks
These are direct contributions. Each one is in a public campaign filing.
$3,300
Jed York → Liccardo for Congress
Rep. Sam Liccardo. Same cycle, same maximum, filed the following month.
FEC · direct$2,500
Jed York → DCCC
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. After the arrest, the committee did not tell reporters whether it would return the check.
FEC · direct$12,800
DeBartolo Corp. and 49ers affiliates → California candidates
$5,900 to Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens. $1,000 to Sen. Damon Connolly. $5,900 to Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas. All Democrats, all itemized.
California filings · directTwo demands.
- Give back Jed’s money. Every politician and committee returns direct contributions from Jed York and from 49ers-affiliated businesses, or donates an equal amount to organizations that serve victims of sexual exploitation.
- Unseal his arrest record. Columbiana County releases the full police report, booking file, and court record.
Sign petition 01 · 377 signatures
Give back Jed’s money. Unseal his arrest record.
Petition 02
0.11% is not accountability.
To NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, the owners, and the NFL Executive Committee.
Make his NFL wrist slap a real punishment.
York pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct and possessing criminal tools. He apologized to his family, the players, coaches, employees, fans, and partners, and said, “This was an inexcusable mistake and I take full responsibility.” Accepting a light penalty is not the same thing as receiving a fair one.
If shared revenue were $100, the fine would be 11¢.
NBC Sports’ Mike Florio put the $500,000 fine against the $453 million in national revenue every franchise shared last year, using the Packers’ financial report. $500,000 is 0.11% of $453 million. Teams make still more that is not shared. York does not personally pocket the entire $453 million. The franchise kept collecting it while he was suspended.
One mark out of a thousand. The fine is 0.11% — about one mark, and a tenth of the next. A single mark is filled in.
What a suspension costs
Three of the six games were already gone.
The league said York had stayed away from the first three regular-season games and from league meetings while it investigated. Those three games were credited. After the October 2 announcement, three games remained. By October 20 the suspension was over.
The “higher standard” is no longer in the player policy.
Earlier copies of the Personal Conduct Policy said ownership “have traditionally been held to a higher standard and will be subject to more significant discipline.” NBC Sports reported that the league removed that sentence from the player policy in 2023. Goodell still says the policy applies to owners. The York penalty does not look like a higher standard. It looks like a different one.
“We saw a violation and we dealt with it.”
We demand a real penalty.
- Reopen the case. Review the punishment independently. Three games still to be served, plus 0.11%, is not accountability.
- Impose a real financial penalty. If a player loses his pay, an owner needs a financial hit that means something next to the revenue the league distributes.
- Explain the three-game credit. Why did a voluntary absence count as punishment already served? Fans can follow the math. They should not have to guess the reasoning.
- Publish owner rules that can actually be enforced. If the league still believes owners are held to a higher standard, that standard has to be written down, with consequences an owner can feel. Ownership is a privilege.
Sign petition 02 · 458 signatures
Tell Roger Goodell this was a slap on the wrist.
03 — Sources
Every number on this page comes from a filing or a named report.
- Associated Press — arrest, amended charge, no-contest plea, sentence, and bond.
- Associated Press — incident report, alias, and the undercover texts.
- San Francisco Chronicle — the review of 100 cases, the hearing transcript, the prosecutor’s denial, and the “D Cory” payment.
- NFL.com — six-game suspension, $500,000 fine, and the three-game credit.
- NBC News — York’s apology and the terms of the plea.
- Mike Florio, NBC Sports — 0.11% of $453 million in shared revenue.
- Mike Florio, NBC Sports — Jackson, Sweat, and the end of the suspension on October 20.
- NBC Sports — Goodell, October 22, 2026.
- NBC Sports — removal of the “higher standard” sentence from the player policy.
- FEC receipts — $3,300 to Ro for Congress (May 24, 2024), $3,300 to Liccardo for Congress (June 24, 2024), $2,500 to the DCCC (June 16, 2025).
- Fox News — the DCCC had not said, in the days after the arrest, whether it would return the $2,500.
- California Files — $12,800 from DeBartolo Corporation and 49ers affiliates to three state candidates.
- KPIX | CBS News Bay Area — the video on this page.
- Booking photograph: Columbiana County Jail, August 23, 2026.
Contributor data is used here to describe contributions that were already reported, not to solicit donations. Federal law bars the use of FEC contributor information for solicitation or commercial purposes.