Judge rules councilman-elect barred for drug conviction ineligible to hold position

McKEESPORT, Pa. — McKeesport councilman-elect Corry Sanders, who had been barred from taking office because of a 23-year-old drug conviction, is ineligible to hold the position, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Sanders was in court Wednesday afternoon to fight for his right to take the city council seat, to which residents of McKeesport elected him in November.

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The issue before the court dated back to 1993, when Sanders pleaded no contest to two felony drug counts.

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State law prohibits anyone convicted of a crime to hold elected office unless they receive a governor’s pardon. Being that Sanders has yet to hear from Harrisburg, a court of common pleas judge delivered a ruling Wednesday.

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"The lengthy pardon process is an unknown. If that impediment the judge had spoken about had been removed, we wouldn't have been at this hearing today," attorney Rachel Morocco said.

The ruling was not what Sanders had hoped for, but he appeared to be optimistic when he left court.

"I'm glad I had the opportunity to let people be aware there's a lot of people out there who made mistakes but turned things around," Sanders said. "We are just moving forward. This is a new beginning."

WPXI