Murderer, selected by Dems to serve on county prison board, now charged with stealing nearly $100K in COVID funds

A murderer who was appointed to serve on a Pennsylvania county prison board after spending nearly 30 years behind bars himself has now been charged with a slew of crimes related to COVID relief funds.

Vernon Steed, now 55, was a thug in his youth. In 1985, when he was just 17, he errantly shot and killed Serena Gibson while aiming for a rival drug dealer. Steed was convicted of first-degree murder in 1988 and then served 32 years. He was released in 2018.

Last June, commissioners of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, which is northwest of Philadelphia, voted 2-1 to approve Steed for the county's Prison Board of Inspectors. The two votes in favor of Steed came from Democrats Val Arkoosh and Kenneth Lawrence Jr. At the time, Arkoosh gushed over Steed's appointment, celebrating that someone "with lived experience" would soon offer a unique and "extremely important perspective" to the prison board.

"I would just like to point out the lived experience that this individual brings is 32 years in state prison for murder," warned Joe Gale, a Republican and the lone dissenter in the vote to confirm Steed.

Gale's skepticism may have been warranted as Steed has recently been arrested for allegedly stealing COVID funds. Back in 2021, before he was ever appointed to the prison board and just three years into his new life as a free man, Steed supposedly submitted several fraudulent applications to Your Way Home, a rental assistance group which apparently received public funds designated for COVID-related expenses. The reports indicate that Steed submitted applications using other names, including the names of relatives, and then pocketed the money, which totaled about $95,000.

Steed was arrested and charged with forgery, identity theft, and theft by deception. He was booked into Berks County Prison and may soon be transferred to Montgomery County Correctional Facility since he has not posted bail, assessed at $99,000.

Steed's wife, 49-year-old Mary Ann Steed, has also been arrested in connection to the scheme. She has been released on $50,000 bail.

Gale, now running for re-election, slammed the decision to trust Steed and confirm his appointment. "It is unacceptable and embarrassing that a member of the Montgomery County Prison Board of Inspectors has been arrested and is being held in detention," Gale said in a statement. "It was an absolute disgrace for the Democrat County Commissioners to appoint a convicted murderer to the Prison Board of Inspectors in the first place. Now, less than a year later, their decision to override my opposition has proven to be a grave error in judgment, which jeopardized the safety and welfare of many."

Gale also asserted that future prison board vacancies should be filled only by "a correctional officer, law enforcement officer, or legal practitioner" who is "well-versed in the criminal justice system" and who has "an unblemished history as a law-abiding member of the community."

"I fully expect that my input will now be heard," Gale concluded, "and a qualified, law-abiding applicant will be chosen to replace Vernon Steed."

Arkoosh no longer serves as a commissioner of Montgomery County as, earlier this year, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (D) appointed her to be secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Arkoosh did not comment on Steed's arrest.

Steed resigned his position from the board last month, and his name has been removed from the Montgomery County website. The website indicates that the county is currently seeking new members for the board.

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