Matthews' expunging case extended to next week

It had seemed as though former Montgomery County Commissioner James R. Matthews would have his charge of lying to a grand jury expunged Wednesday in court.

Instead, the action was postponed for a week, as the District Attorney's Office and Matthews' lawyer work out details of deleting his arrest record.

"It's a housekeeping matter," Matthews' attorney, Jud Aaron, said after meeting with Assistant District Attorney Lauren McNulty and Senior County Court Judge William T. Nicholas for about 10 minutes. After that meeting, McNulty and Aaron went into a hall outside Nicholas' courtroom to continue an energetic discussion.

McNulty and Aaron would not give specifics about what was at issue. Aaron did say he expected the expunging, which the District Attorney's Office does not oppose, to occur next week, when they are scheduled to be in court again.

Later Monday, a county official said the issue involved what information would be expunged.

"That's where there's a bit of controversy," said the official, who asked not to be named because the matter had not been resolved.

Matthews, 64, of Lower Gwynedd, was part of the previous Montgomery County Board of Commissioners that was known for its political warfare in public - with Republican Matthews and Democrat Joseph M. Hoeffel 3d teamed up against Republican Bruce L. Castor Jr. - and allegations of corruption.

A 69-page grand jury report released in December 2011 after an 18-month investigation painted an unsavory portrait of how the county's business often was done. Only Castor remains a commissioner from that board.

Among the issues the panel investigated were allegations that Matthews misused campaign contributions, steered contracts to friends, and, with Hoeffel, conducted county business in private that should have been done with Castor.

The grand jury also scrutinized how Matthews spent campaign funds, "including paying $57,000 worth of expenditures to his personal credit card and $20,000 worth to his personal vehicle," the District Attorney's Office said in 2011.

Of all the practices and deals the grand jury cited involving numerous county employees, only Matthews faced prosecution. Initially, he was charged with perjury and making false statements in his October 2011 testimony to the grand jury about his connection to a company that received county contracts.

A judge dismissed the perjury charge, and in July 2012, Matthews agreed to enter a probationary program, cover the prosecution costs, and pay $12,000 to a nonprofit that provides civic education. As part of the agreement, Matthews did not admit guilt to the remaining count of making a false statement, a misdemeanor. It also allowed for his record to be expunged.

Matthews was not at Monday's hearing.