Legal/Law/Criminal Justice and Reform

Ex-Dem Philadelphia City Councilman Handed 3.5-Year Prison Sentence After Union Boss Paid Him Off

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Former Democratic Philadelphia City Councilman Bobby Henon was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison Wednesday for fraud, bribery and conspiracy, according to NBC 10 Philadelphia.

Henon worked in support of then-International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98 Business Manager John Dougherty’s interests during his city council tenure, receiving a salary and other valuables from the union official, the Eastern Pennsylvania U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Henon was found guilty in 2021 of bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and eight counts of honest services wire fraud, while Dougherty was convicted of honest services fraud conspiracy and honest services wire fraud.

Henon did not resign until January 2022, after his conviction, NBC 10 reported. His sentence includes a $50,000 fine, three years of supervised release and 100 community service hours.

Dougherty has not yet been sentenced, according to KYW. A judge announced in January that Dougherty’s separate federal trial for embezzlement was rescheduled for April, while his additional federal trial for allegedly threatening a union contractor who tried to fire his nephew was expected to start in September, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Former Local 98 political director Marita Crawford, the union’s longtime apprentice training program leader Michael Neill and two former Dougherty assistants entered guilty pleas in December on charges related to the embezzlement case, in which Dougherty and others allegedly stole more than $600,000 from the union, according to the outlet. “I don’t think the case is all that complicated, frankly,” Local 98 president Brian Burrows’ lawyer Thomas Bergstrom said in January.