Federal judge mulling jail for Erie Co. official

November 18, 2011 at 8:45a.m.

ERIE, Pa. (AP) — A federal judge in Erie is being asked to jail a county councilman who has already been found in contempt of court for living in properties he’d been ordered to vacate as the Internal Revenue Service sought to collect $2.1 million in back taxes.

U.S. District Judge Sean McLaughlin found Erie County Councilman Ebert Beeman in contempt Monday and scheduled a sentencing hearing for Jan. 17.

But federal prosecutors want the judge to decide today whether Beeman should go to jail immediately instead of traveling to Hershey for a gathering of county government officials.

The judge had ordered Beeman to stay off the properties after the seizure order, but his attorney says that was ambiguous because Beeman was also required to maintain the properties until they could be sold to pay the tax debt.