Johnny Doc’s bribery conviction just cost his former union Local 98 another $25,000 in ethics fines

The fallout from the Johnny Doc era continues.

The union that convicted labor leader John J. Dougherty once molded into one of the state’s most powerful political forces — Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers — has agreed to pay nearly $25,000 to the city’s Board of Ethics to resolve issues that stemmed from Dougherty’s criminal conduct a decade ago, the board said in a settlement agreement published Thursday.

The penalties relate to Dougherty’s failure to have registered as a lobbyist as he and the organization he directed sought to influence government officials between 2014 and 2016, the agreement says.

J. Shane Creamer Jr., the board’s executive director, said the fine was the board’s largest-ever penalty for lobbying violations, and the sixth-largest it has ever imposed. The board is tasked with administering and enforcing the city’s public integrity laws, and can investigate potential wrongdoing involving lobbying, campaign finance, public officials’ financial disclosures, and other issues.

In the Local 98 case, all the unreported lobbying efforts committed by Dougherty or his union were detailed at his federal criminal trial more than three years ago. Many of them — including his attempts to influence legislation regarding the towing industry, sweetened beverage tax, or Philadelphia Parking Authority — involved interactions with former City Councilmember Bobby Henon, a onetime employee of Local 98 who remained on the union’s payroll even after he was elected to the city’s legislative body.

Henon was convicted of bribery alongside Dougherty in 2021 and was later sentenced to 3½ years in prison. Dougherty, meanwhile, was sentenced last year to six years behind bars — the result of his convictions in the bribery case and a separate embezzlement prosecution.

Dougherty and Henon remain incarcerated at the federal correctional institution in Lewisburg, Pa.

Dougherty has appealed his conviction, although he told a district judge last year that he was “guilty” and took “full responsibility” for his crimes.

A spokesperson for Local 98 did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment about the ethics board’s fines, which totaled $24,600. The board said the union “fully cooperated” with its investigation and registered as a lobbying organization last year.

Dougherty was also ordered last year to help repay nearly $1.7 million to Local 98 due to costs the union incurred from his embezzlement case.