A federal judge sentenced former Philly labor leader John “Johnny Doc” Dougherty to six years in prison Thursday and ordered him to report to prison by Sept. 4.
Dougherty, who headed Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers for decades and was a major player in city and state politics, was convicted in 2021 of bribing a Philadelphia City Councilmember, then convicted again in 2023 of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from his union.
Federal prosecutors had asked U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Schmehl to send Dougherty to prison for 11 to 14 years, citing the breadth of his crimes.
In explaining the sentence, Schmehl said he was crediting the former union leader for his “incredible work” building up Local 98, but added, “Somewhere along that trip, you lost your way. You lost your integrity … You turned something that was created for good, and ended up using it for illicit means,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Schmehl also ordered Dougherty to serve three years of probation, complete 100 hours of community service after release, and make a $50,000 restitution payment to Local 98, with a full sum to be decided later.
Prosecutors had asked that he be sent to prison immediately, citing his history of making threats of violence, but Schmehl declined the request.
During the hearing in Reading, Pa., Dougherty apologized for his conduct, saying he “got out of control.”
“I’m here to take full responsibility. It’s embarrassing. I’m sick,” Dougherty told the judge. Noting that he’d been under federal investigation for years, he said, “I knew better. I let the lines get blurred. I got over my head.”
The sentence is longer than the 3 1/2 years doled out to Dougherty’s codefendant in the bribery case, former councilmember and union official Bobby Henon. Brian Burrows, a former IBEW president who was also convicted of embezzlement, was sentenced to 4 years last month.
Now that he has been sentenced, Dougherty can appeal his convictions in both cases. If he does, those appeals could take years to resolve.
Convicted for corrupting a councilmember
Dougherty became IBEW Local 98’s business manager in 1993 and built it up into a political powerhouse. He grew membership to about 5,000, pouring millions in union dues annually into the political campaigns of favored elected officials, and using his clout to pressure developers and companies to hire union electricians.
Among the many IBEW-backed candidates who won top offices were former Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, a longtime close associate of Dougherty, and the union leader’s brother, State Supreme Court Justice Kevin Dougherty.
At the same time, the FBI spent years investigating Dougherty, and federal prosecutors finally indicted him in 2019, along with Henon, Burrows, and several other IBEW officers and members.
The U.S. Attorney’s office said that after Henon won a City Council seat with heavy union backing in 2011, he did Dougherty’s bidding in exchange for a $70,000-a-year union job that required little work, along with other perks like tickets to Eagles games.
Henon drafted legislation, arranged private meetings, called hearings, voted for or against bills to help Dougherty attack his rivals in other unions, and helped pressure big companies like Comcast to hire Local 98 electricians.
During a five-week trial in 2021, prosecutors played dozens of wire-tapped phone calls in which Henon, Dougherty and others strategized about how the councilmember should use his position to further the union leader’s goals. They were found guilty on the majority of counts and forced to quit their jobs. Henon reported to federal prison in April 2023.
In a second trial late last year, a jury convicted Dougherty of more than 70 counts of embezzling from Local 98.
He and the others charged in the case had improperly spent more than $600,000 in Local 98 funds, according to federal prosecutors. They paid for groceries, home decor supplies, restaurant meals, concert and sports tickets, home maintenance and repairs, and other personal expenses.
He went to trial last spring in a third case that alleged that he and his nephew threatened and extorted from a contractor the nephew was working for. That case ended in a mistrial.
Dougherty could also be on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars IBEW incurred to hire lawyers during the embezzlement investigation, the Inquirer reported. The union’s total bills amounted to $1.5 million, an official said, and prosecutors have suggested Dougherty pay $591,000.
Support from Rendell, Butkovitz, and many others
Dougherty had pleaded for leniency before the sentencing. His lawyer Greg Pagano described him as a tireless champion throughout his life for union workers, his family and his community, per the Inquirer.
The union leader “dedicated more than half of his life to zealously advocating for organized labor… the forgotten people in society… [and] his neighborhood and the City of Philadelphia,” Pagano wrote in a memo to the court.
He also urged Schmehl to defer any sentence so Dougherty could continue serving as the primary caregiver for his wife Celie, who is a quadriplegic and requires constant care. But prosecutors said the former Local 98 leader had had years, since his conviction in 2021, to arrange for her care during his incarceration.
Dougherty submitted more than 240 letters supporting his leniency request from union members, elected officials, family members, neighbors and the public.
“I can honestly say that John has done so much good for the City we both love and its citizens,” former Gov. Ed Rendell wrote, according to the Inky. “And he gained nothing for himself, except the respect of so many.”
Others who wrote letters included former Congressman Lou Barletta, former City Controller Alan Butkovitz, former Inquirer and Daily News columnist Stu Bykofsky and Project Home cofounder Sister Mary Scullion.
Those present at the hearing Thursday included Philadelphia City Councilmember Jim Harrity, former Councilmember Jannie Blackwell, Justice Kevin Dougherty, and Kevin’s son Sean Dougherty, a candidate for a state House seat, the Inquirer reported.
Editor’s Note: WHYY employs members of the IBEW union.
