Visiting Judge Jonathan Hein said Foley’s actions demonstrated “ignorance of clear ethical laws or callous disregard for them.”
“You know, everyone in the room knows, what you did, you clearly shouldn’t do,” Judge Hein said to Foley in a small courtroom at the Montgomery County Common Plea Court.
The charges come with $2,000 in fines levied against Foley, as well as court costs that must be paid within 24 months. Hein also put Foley on 24 months of community supervision and suspended up to 180 days in jail. Foley will also have to serve 40 hours of community service and complete ethics training.
The Ohio Auditor of State in a press release said the sentence also included prohibitions against alcohol and drug use and retaliation against employees.
“The facts are clear: Clerk Foley engaged in illegal activity, soliciting campaign contributions from his staff,” Auditor of State Keith Faber said. “We held these officials accountable, and Judge James Piergies and Foley paid the price for their actions. Justice was done.”
Faber’s office did not respond to questions about why the state auditor agreed to the plea deal, which dropped the charges that could have removed Foley from office — charges Foley previously pleaded “no contest” to but then withdrew his plea.
Foley was reelected to the clerk’s seat in November 2024.
In a statement to this news outlet, Foley said he “naively took advice from former staff members and political leaders who may not have had (his) best interest at heart.”
“I have learned from my mistakes. I have restructured my office with a group of ethical professionals who have acted swiftly to institute measures and safeguards to ensure that these inadvertent actions never occur again,” Foley said in his press release.
His attorney, Jon Paul Rion, said his client was happy to come to a resolution in the criminal case.
“The facts behind it were essentially asking people to come to a $25 barbecue or asking them to play golf,” Rion told this news outlet. “And there’s certain people that you’re not allowed to ask. He didn’t realize at the time he wasn’t supposed to.”
State investigation
Foley’s criminal trial was scheduled for this week. This conviction effectively cancels that trial.
Prior to the plea agreement, Foley faced both felony and misdemeanor charges related to theft in office, the unauthorized use of computers, unlawful interest in public contracts, the solicitation of political contributions from public employees and other improper political activity.
The investigation into his office began when the Ohio Auditor of State in November 2022 raided the Montgomery County Clerk of Courts office.
The state’s investigation into Foley spanned years and in part focused on allegations that his campaign manager and former employee Elle Sollenberger used county resources and time to work on his campaign, among other claims about employees feeling pressured to put yard signs out during their boss’ reelection campaigns.
Investigators also looked into claims that Foley tried to arrange a meeting between Montgomery County Treasurer John McManus and an investment firm, suggesting that McManus invest some of the county’s $1 billion investment funds with the firm.
Claims that Montgomery County Municipal Court Judge James Piergies transferred funds to Foley’s office to fund an IT position for Piergies’ son were also a part of the state’s investigation.
Piergies pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts as a part of a separate plea deal with the state earlier this year that forced Piergies to step down from the bench. State investigators said his charges were linked to the employment of his son.
This is the second plea deal Foley has agreed to in his criminal case. Foley in June 2025 changed his plea to no contest and was convicted of felony and misdemeanor charges related to political contribution solicitation and unauthorized use of computers.
The plea meant Foley neither admitted to nor denied the charges against him. But Foley withdrew his plea the day after he changed it because it put his eligibility to keep his job in jeopardy. Hein vacated Foley’s criminal sentence.
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