(NewsGlobal.com)- In November, Bobby Dougherty resigned as business manager for Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Philadelphia Building & Construction Trades Council.
Dougherty was found guilty of bribery.
Additionally, Dougherty will go on trial next week in a case where he is charged with intimidating a contractor who worked for his nephew. In another case, he and other Local 98 executives are accused of stealing more than $600,000 from the union. That trial is set to begin in October.
According to reports, Dougherty was seen on camera threatening union members who may have turned him into the FBI. He told a group of colleagues that if “You going to f— around with that mouth, I’m coming for all you have and everything you f—ing own.”
He told one of them that he would make sure everyone knew he was a punk, a rat, and a creep, even at his children’s school.
And to top it off, he offered a different course of action for those who turned against him. He told them to jump off a bridge.
Recently, a tape from an insider who is an FBI informant surfaced.
Reports show that the government’s decision to wait to reveal that they had an informant is now being questioned by Dougherty’s legal team. The lawyers also worry if their client’s interactions with them may be captured on the tapes, which would be a potential breach of his rights.
In a recent court document, defense attorney Henry E. Hockeimer Jr. stated that this was not a problem that Mr. Dougherty created, and it is not one that Mr. Dougherty can dismiss. Instead, the situation directly affects his capacity to guarantee that he will have a fair trial in which his constitutional rights will be upheld.
Both parties have irritated the case judge, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Schmehl. The informant’s existence was not revealed by the prosecutors until early this year. At the same time, the defense persistently requested more details regarding the informant and more time to look into whether Dougherty’s rights were violated.
At a hearing last week, the judge told Hockeimer that he might believe this is a breach of Dougherty’s rights, but the government doesn’t feel it violates his rights.
