NFL suspends 49ers owner Jed York six games and fines him $500,000 after Ohio prostitution sting.

League discipline is not a criminal sentence, and a no-contest plea is not a contested trial. USA TODAY, TMZ, and NBC Sports reported that the NFL on Oct. 2, 2026, suspended Jed York six games and fined him $500,000 after the August Ohio sting in which police said he arranged a $160 meet for sex. Court records in the same reporting show the prostitution count was amended to disorderly conduct, with a separate possessing-criminal-tools count, and he pleaded no contest. The league's Personal Conduct Policy decision and the Columbiana County plea are separate tracks. Own the timeline; do not confuse a fine with a felony conviction.

USA TODAY reported Oct. 2, 2026, that the NFL announced a six-game suspension and a $500,000 fine for York. TMZ published York's statement accepting the decision, calling the episode an "inexcusable mistake" and apologizing to his family, the 49ers, fans, and partners. NBC Sports and CBS Sports carried the same discipline numbers.

Reporting places the Aug. 23, 2026, arrest in East Palestine, Ohio, after York allegedly answered a police ad, used the alias "Joe," and agreed to $160 for an hour of sexual activity before officers stopped him at a mobile-home park. The prostitution charge was amended to disorderly conduct; he also faced possessing criminal tools for the phone used to set up the meeting. He pleaded no contest to both, received concurrent one-day jail terms with credit for time served, and paid fines totaling $1,150, according to USA TODAY's account of Columbiana County records.

The NFL said York already stayed away from the 49ers' first three regular-season games and league meetings during its investigation, and those absences count toward the six-game suspension. He may return Oct. 20. A league suspension under the Personal Conduct Policy is workplace discipline. It does not retry the Ohio misdemeanor pleas.