Man Commuted From Life Sentence Has Delco Theft Charge Dropped

MEDIA, PA — Newly-sworn in Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer Wednesday said retail theft charges filed against a man whose life prison sentence was recently commuted have been dropped after nearly 30 years.

Stollsteimer said his office dropped the 1992 retail theft charge field against David Sheppard, 54, of Philadelphia.

Sheppard was threatened with jail time for failing to appear in court for the charge.

He was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the 1992 robbery of a Philadelphia Pharmacy that left the owner dead.

Sheppard spent 27 years before his sentence was commuted by Gov. Tom Wolf in early December.

Despite the commutation, then Delaware County District Attorney Katayoun Copeland said Sheppard could serve time for stealing five pairs of jeans from a now-close business in Springfield.

"We are not going to spend another dollar of taxpayer money pursuing that," Stollstiemer said Wednesday.

Copeland's decision to pursue the charges against Sheppard led to criticism from politicians such as Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and celebrity Kim Kardashian West. Action News reports Sheppard will be part of a documentary West is working on.

Copeland — a Republican who was appointed to the DA position in 2018 when Jack Whelan won a seat on the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas — was defeated in November by Stollstimer, a Democrat.

Stollsteimer accused Copeland of putting on a "political stunt," saying "I think my predecessor was auditioning for a position in the Trump administration."