CLEVELAND HEIGHTS (WJW) — The wife of former Cleveland Heights Mayor Khalil Salem pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor trespassing charge Monday in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.
Natalie McDaniel was sentenced to two years’ probation and ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation.
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McDaniel faces both a felony trespassing charge and a misdemeanor trespassing charge, but Cuyahoga County prosecutors agreed to a plea deal that would see them dismiss the felony charges if McDaniel pleads guilty.
When asked for the first time during Monday’s hearing whether she would plead guilty, McDaniel insisted she was innocent.
“While I believe this is dishonest, I am prepared to plead guilty today,” McDaniel told the judge.
Judge Jeffrey Safford said he was concerned by McDaniel’s statement.
“I don’t give up these rights lightly,” Safford said. “So when you come here and say I didn’t know and I’m going to raise a defense of dishonesty, I think that’s the terminology you’re using and I feel uncomfortable.”
The judge then adjourned the case and recommended that McDaniel discuss the matter with her attorney, Peter Patakos. The hearing continued hours later, with McDaniel entering what’s known as an Alford plea. An Alford plea allows a defendant to plead guilty but remain innocent.
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McDaniel is accused of entering a home in Cleveland Heights. The incident occurred in July. A home security video shows McDaniel kneeling in front of a sign recalling Mayor Salem. She then stood up, walked up the front porch steps, opened the door and entered the home for approximately 15 seconds. She was then seen walking out of her home.
McDaniel and her husband, former Cleveland Heights Mayor Khalil Theron, first said she entered the home because she saw construction going on and she was looking for a contractor to work on her house. However, on Monday, her attorney said McDaniel believes someone other than the homeowner placed the recall sign in the yard.
“She sincerely believed that no one in the house lived there, so she believed that her husband’s political opponents placed the sign there without permission,” Patakos said at the hearing.
McDaniel and her husband, former Cleveland Heights Mayor Khalil Salem, were at the center of multiple controversies during their time as mayor. In September, he was ousted in a recall vote.
The victims had prosecutors read a statement saying they felt harassed following the incident. Victims in the case also had reservations about McDaniel’s Alford plea, but told prosecutors they agreed.
McDaniel told the judge she was “very sorry” the victim felt harassed following the incident.
“I hate hearing that they were scared and that someone was driving by their home and harassing them,” McDaniel said before sentencing. “I know that without my decision, this would not have happened. So, I’m sorry that they were afraid that they were being violated, harmed and harassed. I’m sorry that they felt that way.”
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