PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Former Philadelphia City Councilmember Bobby Henon has been sentenced to 3 ½ years behind bars following his federal bribery conviction more than a year ago. Henon is also ordered to pay the IBEW Local 98 electricians union $270,000 in restitution and was fined an additional $50,000.
“It’s been a humbling day,” Henon said after leaving the courtroom.
"The judge has given a sentence. I will honor that sentence. I will come back right into community service. I couldn't do it without the support of my friends and family."
Judge Jeffrey Schmehl called the case a “unicorn,” unique because the bribe Henon was convicted of taking consisted mostly of his salary from the electricians union, something that was legal under the city charter which allows council members to hold outside jobs.
Schmehl said the problem was that, as a result, Henon essentially deceived constituents who thought they were electing a councilman but instead were electing a “minion” for then-union leader John Dougherty, thus violating the trust of his constituents and anyone who thought they were competing with the union on a level playing field. He said the case “exposed the dirty underbelly of Philadelphia politics.”
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Henon was convicted in November 2021, resigning from office two months later.
Schmehl described Henon as a good man convicted of doing a bad thing, and took into account good works Henon had done, described in court and in more than 175 letters pleading for leniency for Henon — more, the judge said, than he’d ever seen for a defendant.
“There are a lot of good people in the city of Philadelphia doing a lot of good things," said Henon. "I just happened to work with them for most of my adult life and my professional career.”
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Thus, Schmehl departed sharply from the prosecution’s request for at least eight years for Henon. Under federal guidelines, Henon had faced up to 20 years behind bars.
Prosecutors declined comment, as Dougherty faces two more trials before he is sentenced. His next trial is scheduled to begin in April.
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