FILE â In this July 14, 2015 file photo, former Harrisburg, Pa., Mayor Stephen Reed arrives for his preliminary arraignment at District Judge William Wenner's offices in Lower Paxton Township, Pa. A sentencing hearing for Reed is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 27, 2017, in a courthouse around the corner from the mayoral offices he once occupied. Reed will learn if heâll spend time in jail after pleading guilty to accumulating Wild West artifacts he bought with public money for a museum that was never built.(Dan Gleiter/PennLive.com via AP, File)
The Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A former Pennsylvania mayor is avoiding jail time after pleading guilty to accumulating Wild West artifacts he bought with public money for a museum that was never built.
Former Harrisburg Mayor Stephen Reed was sentenced Friday to two years of probation in a courthouse around the corner from his one-time mayoral offices.
Judge Kevin Hess says a prison sentence would be grossly disproportionate in the case. He also noted that Reed has stage 4 cancer and no criminal record.
Reed apologized, and he called the case gut-wrenching and humiliating.
Reed pleaded guilty earlier this week to 20 counts of receiving stolen property. All the charges involve photos or documents.
The seven-term Democrat lost the 2009 primary, in part because the millions of dollars he spent on museum-related items had drawn criticism.
FILE â In this July 14, 2015 file photo, former Harrisburg Mayor Stephen Reed waits to make a statement after his preliminary arraignment at District Judge William Wenner's offices in Lower Paxton Township, Pa. A sentencing hearing for Reed is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 27, 2017, in a courthouse around the corner from the mayoral offices he once occupied. Reed will learn if heâll spend time in jail after pleading guilty to accumulating Wild West artifacts he bought with public money for a museum that was never built. (Dan Gleiter/PennLive.com via AP, File)
The Associated Press
FILE â This July 10, 2003 file photo shows an 1800s revolver that entrepreneur, gambler and lawman Wyatt Earp kept in the Oriental Saloon in Tombstone in the Arizona Territory, displayed at the Harrisburg, Pa., Mayor Stephen Reed's office in Harrisburg. A sentencing hearing for Reed is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 27, 2017, in a courthouse around the corner from the mayoral offices he once occupied. Reed will learn if heâll spend time in jail after pleading guilty to accumulating Wild West artifacts he bought with public money for a museum that was never built. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
The Associated Press
FILE â This July 10, 2003 file photo shows an 1800s field printing press used by the U.S. Army in the Arizona Territory to make posters of escaped Apache war chief Geronimo, displayed at the Harrisburg, Pa., Mayor Stephen Reed's office in Harrisburg. A sentencing hearing for Reed is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 27, 2017, in a courthouse around the corner from the mayoral offices he once occupied. Reed will learn if heâll spend time in jail after pleading guilty to accumulating Wild West artifacts he bought with public money for a museum that was never built. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
The Associated Press