Former Local 98 president sentenced to 4 years in prison for his role in $600,000 embezzlement scheme

READING — The former president of Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers was sentenced to four years in prison Wednesday for his role in a more than $600,000 embezzlement scheme — a crime a federal judge described as an “egregious breach” of the trust union members had placed in him.

Brian Burrows — Local 98′s No. 2 official for nearly 15 years under its longtime chief, John Dougherty — did not apologize for his crimes during a hearing in federal court in Reading. Nor did he accept any responsibility for the hundreds of thousands of dollars he, Dougherty, and four other union officials and members have been convicted of draining from Local 98 coffers over a period of six years.

Instead, Burrows, 64, of Mount Laurel, painted himself as a faithful steward of union funds and insisted — during a meandering, 45-minute address to the court — that he’d put thousands of dollars in pension benefits, health care, and profit-sharing checks back in the pockets of its members.

“That wasn’t by luck,” Burrows repeated over and over again, adding later: “My daily job wasn’t to see what was on John Dougherty’s expense reports.”

Prosecutors scoffed at that reasoning.

“It’s almost as if Mr. Burrows is saying if he saved [Local 98 electricians] $8,000 in fees here and some other money there, it was OK to steal from them,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Bea Witzleben said. “I did not hear Mr. Burrows apologize.”

Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl — who at one point cut Burrows off during his lengthy recap of his career at Local 98, imploring him to wrap up with “a little less detail” — scolded Burrows not only for his own theft but also for his failure to intervene and stop the stealing by others.

“Your position in the union was a position of importance, you clearly could have made a difference,” Schmehl said, adding that Burrows had “clearly ignored the warning signs by auditors and other union officials in his presence.”

The punishment Schmehl imposed, which also included an order that Burrows’ complete 100 hours of community service and three years’ probation upon his release, was the stiffest yet in a case that’s roiled the state’s most politically powerful union, prompted a series of resignations from top leaders, including Dougherty and Burrows, and sent several other officials to prison.

It could also spell trouble for Dougherty, who faces sentencing next month for his role in the embezzlement scheme as well as charges from his 2021 bribery conviction alongside former Philadelphia City Councilmember Bobby Henon.

Up until Wednesday, the prison terms Schmehl had issued to other convicted Local 98 leaders had fallen far short of what prosecutors had sought.

In Henon’s case, they’d asked for up to 10 years; Schmehl gave the ex-councilmember 3½. Prosecutors pushed for up to two years for Michael Neill, Local 98′s former head of apprentice training; Schmehl cut that number in half. And though government lawyers urged the judge to put Local 98′s former political director Marita Crawford behind bars for up to six months for her role in the theft of union funds, Schmehl let her off with 15 days in prison followed by house arrest.

Burrow’s sentence Wednesday was also less than the minimum sentence proposed by prosecutors of four years and nine months. But it fell significantly closer to their recommendation than any of the other terms of incarceration the judge had ordered yet. He gave Burrows until August to report to prison.

“The theme in all of these cases has been a breach of trust,” Schmehl said. And as union president, the judge continued, Burrows had committed the “most egregious breach so far.”

Dougherty, whom prosecutors describe as the leader of the embezzlement scheme, will almost certainly face more prison time at his sentencing on July 11.

Unlike the others who struck deals to plead guilty, he and Burrows took their case to trial last year — and lost.

Throughout the monthlong proceeding, prosecutors painted the men as profligate spenders of their union members’ hard-earned dues, which they and their allies blew on everything from home renovations, horse-racing and gambling trips, and pricey restaurant dinners to thousands of dollars on groceries and other mundane goods.

Burrows, as the union’s primary fiscal overseer and one of two people whose signature was required on every check drawn from Local 98′s general fund, was in a unique position to see where the money was going and to stop misspending by Dougherty and others, Witzleben, the prosecutor, said Wednesday.

Instead, she said, he turned a blind eye and engaged in the theft himself.

Contractor Anthony Massa told jurors last year that, acting on Burrows’ instructions, he billed Local 98 for more than $365,000 in repair and renovation work he carried out on the union president’s home and businesses as well as houses owned by Dougherty and several of his relatives.

“Mr. Burrows’ conduct no doubt undermines the public’s confidence in union officials not only in this city but in all unions,” Witzleben said. “Without the intervention of federal law enforcement agents, we think this crime would still be continuing.”

Though Burrows did not apologize Wednesday, he told Schmehl he accepted the jury’s decision. Still, his lawyer, Thomas Bergstrom, maintained the ex-union president should not be held responsible for misspending by Dougherty and the others.

Those expenses included everything from cash Dougherty spent on suits for himself and his brother, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Kevin Dougherty, to extravagant birthday dinners in Atlantic City, concert tickets to Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift, and thousands in home goods for Dougherty’s family billed to the union’s credit card.

“So much of that money, he never even saw,” Bergstrom said. “This is not John Dougherty; this is Brian Burrows. ...I can’t stand up here and tell you that it’s fair that he should be tagged with all that stuff with John Dougherty. … It’s mind-boggling to me.”

For Schmehl, though, the connection was clear.

Though Burrows may not have personally spent a significant portion of the embezzled funds at issue in the case, he authorized Dougherty’s expense reports seeking reimbursement for personal spending, he signed union paychecks for the ex-union chief’s relatives who hadn’t earned them, and he repeatedly ignored warnings from auditors that Local 98′s financial controls left the union open to fraud.

Schmehl set a July 8 hearing to weigh prosecutors’ request to have Dougherty and Burrows ordered to repay $1.6 million to their former union — a sum equal to the roughly $600,000 they’re accused of stealing and the more than $1 million Local 98 has spent on legal expenses tied to their prosecution.

“I feel it’s very important,” the judge said at the conclusion of Wednesday’s hearing, “that the union get its assets back.”