ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Marty Nothstein, an Olympic cycling champion and former Lehigh County commissioner, pleaded guilty Wednesday to illegally entering his ex-girlfriend's Lower Macungie Township home.
Nothstein, 52, agreed to a plea deal to defiant trespassing and will spend a year on probation. He could have faced up to seven years in prison under the original charges.
- Marty Nothstein was arrested on a bevy of charges in December 2021
- Police alleged the victims were the targets of prolonged harassment and vandalism
- Nothstein's guilty plea to a single charge ends the prosecution
Pennsylvania State Police alleged Nothstein stalked his former girlfriend and her new boyfriend between December 2020 and November 2021. Assistant District Attorney Steven Luksa said the two victims, whom LehighVallyNews.com is declining to name, supported the deal.
"They have moved on, and they want Mr. Nothstein to move on," Luksa said.
Nothstein did not speak in court other than to answer procedural questions from Judge Anna-Kristie Marks. He has paid full restitution to the victims.
"I think everyone here is relieved that it's done," said defense attorney John Waldron.
The allegations
Authorities charged Nothstein in December 2021.
Under the original criminal complaint, police said the victims were the targets of prolonged harassment. They received threatening messages, some containing racial slurs. Both victims had their car windows smashed, and the boyfriend had windows in his home broken twice, according to court documents.
Police said cell phone data showed Nothstein was in the area for most of the incidents. A confidential informant also told police that Nothstein told him the boyfriend — a local teacher — was showing pornography to students on his phone; the informant was a mandatory reporter who was required to notify investigators.
But the charge Nothstein pleaded guilty to involved someone entering the woman's home in March 2021 while she was working. She received an alert that someone was trying to access her Apple account from her home computer when there shouldn't have been anyone there. There were no signs of a break-in and nothing was missing, but the victim suspected Nothstein had taken a key to her home.
Investigators equipped the woman with video and audio devices and arranged for a meeting between the two. While being recorded, Nothstein admitted to most of the behavior, authorities alleged. In court, Luksa said Nothstein claimed the victim left her door unlocked.
Fall from grace
The plea marks the latest mark against Nothstein, a Trexlertown native who rose to the heights of competitive cycling. He grew up close to the Valley Preferred Cycling Center, the world-class track owned by Lehigh County and operated by the non-profit Velodrome Fund.
Though significantly larger than most cyclists, Nothstein earned national and world championships over a 17-year career before retiring in 2006. He won a silver medal in the sprint at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and brought home an Olympic gold medal from Sydney four years later.
In 2008, he was tapped to become the executive director at Valley Preferred, also known as the Lehigh County Velodrome. In 2015, Nothstein tried his hand at politics, winning an at-large seat on the Lehigh County Board of Commissioners as a Republican.
His fortunes turned in 2018. Nothstein was running for Pennsylvania's open 7th Congressional District when he was investigated by SafeSport, a wing of the U.S. Olympic Committee tasked with investigating allegations of sexual misconduct. Nothstein denied any wrongdoing, and SafeSport ultimately closed its case without recommending charges. He was fired as executive director, and its driveway is no longer named in his honor.
Nothstein lost the congressional race to Democrat Susan Wild in November 2018. A year later, he lost re-election to the board of commissioners.
