Logan Township police chief accepted into ARD program
Moran faced charges of tampering with public records
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BELLEFONTE -- Suspended Logan Township Police Chief Devon Moran was accepted into Centre County's Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program for first offenders Wednesday on charges of tampering with public records -- charges related to his departure from a sergeant's position in the Ferguson Township Police Department in April 2025.
Moran is expected to be reinstated soon in his Logan Township post.
Under the ARD program, Moran has paid $2,700 in restitution, must perform two days of community service and will be on probation for 12 months, after which the charges will be expunged, if he complies with all requirements, according to information provided during the hearing.
As he was preparing to leave Ferguson Township to take the Logan Township job, Moran was instructed to preserve "any and all documents that are pertinent to FTPD operations/ certifications/contracted services," but, contrary to those instructions, "the defendant chose to delete a large portion of the requested data," according to the criminal complaint.
There was no prior department policy with respect to data preservation, no policy that would have prohibited the actions that Moran ultimately took, defense lawyer Steve Trialonas told the court Wednesday.
Moran didn't think he was doing anything wrong when he deleted files and emails that he believed were not important to keep, Trialonas said.
He preserved the material he considered pertinent and believed he had complied with the preservation request, Trialonas said.
There was no evidence or investigative material lost and no impact on any defendant's case, Trialonas said.
On the contrary, he was a disgruntled employee who did something he was told not to do, according to prosecuting attorney Ian Hausner, an assistant in the county DA's office.
Virtually all the files were recovered, although many emails were not, according to information from the hearing and from the criminal complaint.
The deleted data included Red Cross Tax ID information, accreditation proofs, files tied to the Centre County Crisis Negotiation Team, files tied to grant funding, quotes for cameras, a department call-time comparison, annual inspection checklists connected with accreditation, policy descriptions and links to internal training videos, according to the complaint.
Moran said he backed up the relevant files onto external hard drives and other transferrable media "so as not to allow potentially sensitive material" to be compromised, according to the complaint.
But those transferrable media were not located after Moran's departure, according to the complaint.
The deletions "caused significant hardship for the department," according to the complaint.
Much of the material had to be "reproduced" or "recompiled" and some data "were only recoverable through a laborious search process," the complaint stated.
Ferguson Township didn't object to Moran being granted entry into the ARD program.
Trialonas argued that anyone with a similar case profile would have been granted entry -- an assertion the judge agreed with.
Moran shouldn't be penalized in connection with receiving ARD because he is a law enforcement officer, according to Trialonas.
In reference to the case against Moran, Logan Township supervisors Chairman Jim Patterson said it is "one of those 'he said-she said' things."
When Moran came to Logan to discuss becoming its chief, "he didn't seem disgruntled at all" about his experience in Ferguson, Patterson said.
He simply saw an opportunity, Patterson said.
Moran didn't do "anything malicious," according to Patterson.
On the contrary, despite having received "plenty of notice" about Moran's plans to go elsewhere, Ferguson seems to have been "mad because he was leaving," Patterson said.
Moran will be reinstated by Logan Township Manager Tim Brown, after which the supervisors will ratify the reinstatement, Patterson said.
"We're excited to see him come back," Patterson said.
Moran emailed a statement to the Mirror late Thursday afternoon.
"I have dedicated the last 18 years of my career in law enforcement to serving the community with integrity and respect," he wrote. "My commitment and dedication to the public has not, and will not, change."
He decided to apply for ARD in the "best interest of my family as well as the department and community," he wrote.
He said he appreciates the "unwavering support and confidence" of the supervisors and Brown. "I look forward to moving on and continuing to provide the high level quality public service the Logan Township Police Department strives for every day."
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.