SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — 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 also was fined $500,000 for violating the league's personal conduct policy. 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 Oct. 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.
“To my family, to the players, coaches, and employees of the San Francisco 49ers, to our fans and partners, I am deeply sorry,” he said. "This was an inexcusable mistake and I take full responsibility. What I did does not reflect my values or the man I strive to be for my family. While I fell short of the model I want to set for my sons, I now hope to show them the importance of owning up to one’s failures, and that even our worst moments teach us to be better. Leading the 49ers is a privilege, and one I don’t take lightly. Your trust will have to be earned back over time, and I look forward to that work ahead.”
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.
York was booked into jail and was released after posting a $5,000 bond. York was initially charged with engaging in prostitution, but prosecutors amended that to disorderly conduct. He pleaded no contest to that charge and to possessing criminal tools for using his phone to respond to the an undercover online prostitution advertisement.
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 also was fined $1,150. Police seized the $160 from York and that was later given to the human trafficking task force as part of the plea. York also completed an online course.
Owners have been previously punished for violating the personal conduct policy. 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 with a woman at a massage parlor. The charge was later dropped after a court ruled that police violated the rights of Kraft and the other customers when they secretly installed video cameras inside massage rooms at the spa.
York spent most of the summer in Ohio, where he grew up near Youngstown and had been away from the team even before his arrest. He had filed for divorce from his wife, Danielle, in May, according to court records.
York took over day-to-day control of the 49ers from his parents in 2008. He became the team’s principal owner in 2024. After some initial struggles under York’s leadership, the team has been a consistent contender since hiring coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch in 2017.
The Niners have made the Super Bowl three times under York’s leadership, losing in the 2012 season under coach Jim Harbaugh and the 2019 and ’23 seasons under Shanahan and Lynch.
York also oversaw the building of Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. The team moved from San Francisco to the new stadium in 2014. The stadium has hosted two Super Bowls, a World Cup and a College Football Playoff title game.
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