PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The prosecution has finished presenting its case in the federal corruption trial of Philadelphia City Councilmember Bobby Henon and labor leader John Dougherty.
The trial is on pause until Monday, while the judge said he will work out some legal issues. The prosecution said they are postponing officially resting their case until then.
Prosecutors ended their case with testimony about tickets to sporting events that Councilmember Henon requested or was given, courtesy of Electricians Local 98, which Dougherty heads.
The prosecution has included the tickets, along with Henon’s union salary, in its definition of a bribe from Dougherty to Henon, so that Henon would take official action on Dougherty’s behalf.
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The evidence included a phone call between Henon and Councilmember Helen Gym, who went to a Philadelphia Eagles game in 2015 with Henon and other officials, just before taking office.
She asked whether she should report the tickets on her financial disclosure form. He said he doesn’t think so, that other council members who got the tickets don’t.
“With 98, it’s a little different,” Henon told Gym. “They got the box. It’s always full. There’s no trail of anything.”
On cross examination, Henon’s attorney noted that many people got tickets from Local 98: politicians, contractors and union employees.
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Henon, he asserted, got the tickets because he was a Local 98 employee. The defense has repeatedly refuted the prosecution’s claim that a salary and tickets were a bribe.
Councilmember Gym has issued a statement on her phone call with Henon.
“She felt uncomfortable after the conversation and subsequently consulted with an attorney," she said. "An amended statement of financial interest was prepared in 2018 and it has been re-filed.”
