Disgraced attorney Joe Wrona has been released from the Summit County Jail on good behavior more than 100 days before the end of his sentence.
In January, Wrona pleaded guilty to the sexual assault of his adult biological daughter and was sentenced to serve 364 days in the Summit County Jail.
However, the Utah Code sets special provisions on sentences for good behavior. Wrona earned up to 10 days of “good time” credit against his sentence for every 30 days served, ending his punishment after 243 days.
Defense attorney Greg Skordas, who represented the once-prominent Park City lawyer throughout the criminal case, confirmed Wrona was released on Sept. 5. A Summit County Sheriff’s Office inmate log from Sept. 11 did not list his name.
The conditions of Wrona’s release mandate that he immediately register as a sex offender, which he has. He will have 48 months of supervised probation and must abide by Class A sex offender conditions including a curfew, not congregating at places where children may be such as schools or playgrounds and notifying law enforcement if he travels outside of Utah, for at least 10 years after his probation ends.
The Third District Court also ruled the 61 year old is not allowed to contact his daughter for the rest of his life. If Wrona violates the rules, he faces a potential 15-year prison sentence.
Wrona pleaded guilty to reduced charges after reaching a plea deal with prosecutors in November 2020. Community members were outraged at the time, demanding a harsher punishment for the crime.
Third District Court Judge Richard Mrazik sentenced Wrona to the Utah State Prison for indeterminate terms of one to 15 years for forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony, and up to five years for incest, a third-degree felony. Wrona was originally charged with first-degree felony rape in June 2022.
However, the prison sentence was suspended and Wrona was ordered to serve one year in the Summit County Jail starting immediately. The sentence exceeded the state sentencing guidelines for these crimes, according to the Summit County Attorney’s Office.
All parties in the case said the outcome was more favorable than the uncertainty of a trial. The young woman who was assaulted was consulted and agreed to the details of the plea agreement.
The woman’s attorney shared a victim impact statement during the sentencing detailing her experience growing up in an unstable home without knowing her father. She later met Wrona during her high school graduation. Years later, she said she was coerced into maintaining a relationship with him. Wrona then became possessive and controlling. That’s when the sexual assault started.
Wrona read a statement “trying to take responsibility” for his actions, but he attempted to justify the nature of his relationship with his daughter.
Defense attorneys for Wrona initially planned to argue that the physical relationship between the father and daughter was consensual. Wrona’s guilty plea to the amended forcible sexual abuse charge means he admitted he touched his daughter without her consent.
“Realistically, because of his power over her, we acknowledge that it did negate consent,” Skordas told the court in January.