Elected McKeesport Council Member Appeals To Governor To Be Sworn-In
McKEESPORT (KDKA) -- The first meeting of the New Year for McKeesport Council members sparked yelling from a woman in council chambers.
"There is one missing, there is one missing," she said. "Yes sir, he was voted in by the people of this city."
Newly-elected City Council member Corey Sanders joined other members, but he was not sworn in.
Sanders - who is married with children, a deacon in his church and a business owner in McKeesport - pled no contest more than two decades ago to felony drug charges and spent four years in prison.
After the November election, a citizen complaint led to a letter from Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala's office. It was read at the council meeting by McKeesport Solicitor Jason Elash.
"As a result of those convictions, Mr. Sanders is constitutionally ineligible to hold public office. Upon discussing the matter with Mr. Sanders personally, Mr. Zappala advised Mr. Sanders of the fact and further advised him that in order to hold public office he would need to seek a full pardon from the governor."
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Prior to the meeting, Sanders had already been sworn-in by Common Pleas judges Joe Williams and Dwayne Woodruff, which means nothing at this point.
Sanders had no reaction after the meeting; however, his attorney Rachael Morocco had already made an appeal to Gov. Tom Wolf who says the Constitution is very clear on this.
"There is a Board of Pardons that interviews and looks at the records and makes recommendations to the governor; and the governor then - only on cases that have a majority positive recommendations - can act on that," said Wolf. "So, constitutionally until I get that recommendation, it has to go through that Board of Pardons before it gets to me, but if it were to go through that process and get to me, I would certainly give it very, very serious consideration."
Until that time, Sanders may have won a seat on council, but he can't take it.
