Erie fitness business owner, who pleaded guilty in crack case, loses $15,000 DEI grant

The Diverse Erie commission on Thursday rescinded a $15,000 grant award to a local fitness business, two months after its owner pleaded guilty in federal court in Erie to dealing drugs.

In a unanimous vote, the commi ssion board rescinded the grant award to Personal Results Fitness, at 524 W. 17th St., near Walnut Street, owned by Erie personal trainer Steven Spearman.

Diverse Erie Solicitor Tim Wachter said the decision wasn't influenced by Spearman's criminal record but rather the unresolved questions in his grant application. Those included whether Spearman’s taxes were current and whether his business had the capacity to use the grant.

“We had requested that he provide that information, clarifying his position on the application,” Wachter said. “But we received no information back from him.”

Wachter also said Spearman did not return a signed contract or funding agreement to Diverse Erie. The agreement details all the reporting requirements for Personal Results Fitness and must be submitted to the commission before it can fund the grant.

Diverse Erie: Spearman’s criminal record was not a factor

Spearman's business was announced a recipient of the commission's Small Business Mini grant on May 17.

A week later, Spearman pleaded guilty in federal court in Erie to a felony count that he distributed nearly 38 grams of crack cocaine in 2017.

Spearman, 55, who was indicted on that single count in February 2021, faces a term of probation to two years in federal prison at his sentencing on Sept. 12.

Diverse Erie became aware of these concerns after a report from the Erie Times-News . The commission was not aware of the active criminal case against Spearman, said Wachter and Diverse Erie's chief administrative officer, Gary Lee.

Lee said Diverse Erie does not perform criminal background checks on grant applicants partly because of the large number of applications it receives.

Lee also said the grant process is "predicated on being for a business," meaning that Diverse Erie's evaluates the applicants using business-related criteria. He said Diverse Erie considers such factors as applicants' personal and business taxes, number of employees, level of sales and areas of concentration.

Diverse Erie must abide by the anti-discrimination regulations the Erie County Human Relations Commission. Its ordinances prohibit discrimination based on "criminal history" as well as a number of other factors, such as race, sex and gender identity.

Spearman's grant application for Personal Results Fitness lists him as the sole proprietor and owner. The application, which the Erie Times-News obtained through a request under the Right-to-Know Law, states that Personal Results Fitness was established in 2007 and that it provides "training and education to the community."

The application states that Personal Results Fitness serves underprivileged youth, "most of whom are young Black men," and that Spearman and his team train many of them to wrestle and box. Personal Results Fitness sought to use the grant money to expand its gym, according to the application.

Diverse Erie received 75 applications for its Small Business Mini grants and awarded a total of $300,000 in grants to 25 businesses, including Spearman's. Diverse Erie uses Erie County's share of pandemic-era American Rescue Plan money to fund the commission's Small Business Mini Grant program. Diverse Erie was originally known as the Erie County Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Commission.

Staff writer Ed Palattella contributed to this report.

A.J. Rao can be reached at arao@gannett.com . Follow him on X @ETNRao .

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie fitness business owner, who pleaded guilty in crack case, loses $15,000 DEI grant