HARRISBURG -- Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro on Thursday announced that no new criminal charges would be filed in connection with the questionable financing of the city's former incinerator.
The 3 p.m. announcement ends a lengthy criminal investigation into former Mayor Stephen Reed and incinerator retrofits under his administration that accumulated more than $300 million in debt.
That debt was on top of other municipal debt totaling about the same that tainted the city's reputation nationally and plunged the city into a financial pit of which it is still attempting to crawl out.
After the incinerator financing imploded, many questioned whether professionals who worked on the incinerator and related contracts could be held criminally liable. Shapiro's announcement Thursday answered that question with a, "No."
Instead, Shapiro on Thursday released new details about the fiasco from the grand jury investigation and announced seven recommendations to change city, county and state laws. The recommendations are intended to correct problems that contributed to Harrisburg's financial collapse and to the lack of accountability that followed.
A grand jury previously charged Reed with 499 criminal charges, many related to corruption by a government official, but most of those charges were dropped after a judge ruled that the statute of limitations on the crimes had expired.
The judge's ruling did not exonerate Reed, but rather made attempts to pursue his alleged crimes as mayor impossible.
Reed received a sentence of two-years' probation for convictions on 20 counts of theft by receiving. The convictions were related to city-owned artifacts that were found in the former mayor's home.
While the criminal case is over, civil claims related to the incinerator still survive and could generate settlements that could repay some losses by the city and county. The county guaranteed much of the city's debt.
The incinerator was sold to Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority in December 2013.
