Harrisburg, PA - Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman released the following statement on Delaware County District Attorney Katayoun Copeland’s announced plans to arrest David Sheppard as he is released from prison Friday morning.
Sheppard is one of eight people recently granted clemency by Governor Tom Wolf. Copeland is forcing prosecution of a decades-old shoplifting case against Sheppard.
“Last night the Department of Corrections advised me that Delco’s outgoing District Attorney filed a detainer and is forcing the demoralizing arrest of David Sheppard as he is walking out of prison for the first time in nearly 30 years.
It had been our hope that District Attorney Copeland’s earlier threats to arrest David Sheppard were simple political posturing in the wake of a failed re-election bid. The jeans Sheppard allegedly stole in 1992 were recovered and the company went out of business shortly after, so there hasn’t been a complaining witness in more than 20 years.
This egregious action is an alarming example of prosecutorial abuse of power. It’s also a disheartening disruption of what should have been the first morning of a new life for a Pennsylvanian who has paid his debt to society.”
MEDIA CONTACT: Christina Kauffman - 717-712-3316![]( "Call: 717-712-3316")
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