December 23, 2022
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Four former employees of IBEW Local 98 pleaded guilty this week to multiple counts of embezzlement, wire fraud and theft of union benefit plans just weeks prior to a trial alongside John Dougherty and Brian Burrows. Michael Neill, Marita Crawford, Niko Rodriguez and Brian Fiocca will be sentenced in April.
Four former employees of Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have pleaded guilty to multiple charges of embezzlement, wire fraud and theft of union benefits, federal prosecutors said.
Michael Neill, Marita Crawford, Niko Rodriguez and Brian Fiocca were charged alongside former Local 98 business manager John Dougherty and President Brian Burrows in a 2019 indictment returned by a federal grand jury, alleging that multiple union employees conspired to embezzle and steal union assets, particularly from the apprentice training fund, in violation of the IBEW constitution and federal law.
The 153-page indictment included 116 charges for the IBEW employees, including 91 against Dougherty and 14 against former City Councilmember Bobby Henon, who resigned from his position in January after 10 years in office. According to the indictment, Local 98 employees used union credit cards to pay off more than $600,000 in personal expenses between 2010 and 2016.
Crawford, 53, served as Local 98's political director for more than a decade and was the first to enter a guilty plea on Monday. During her tenure with Local 98, Crawford helped transform the union into a major political influence.
Local 98's fundraising efforts helped elect multiple officials to local, state and federal offices, including Dougherty's brother, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Kevin Dougherty. Crawford pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud, which could carry a sentence of up to 20 years. She has agreed to pay a $12,000 restitution to Local 98.
Neill, 56, served as the director of the apprentice training fund. He was charged in the indictment with aiding Dougherty and Burrows in using Local 98's assets as a slush fund, paying off personal expenses and commercial property renovations and misrepresenting them as renovations on union facilities.
Prosecutors say Neill, Burrows and Dougherty billed the union $390,000 in personal construction work between 2010 and 2016, the Inquirer reported. Neill pleaded guilty to multiple counts of embezzlement, as well as one count of stealing from the union's benefit plan and making a false federal income tax return.
Rodriguez, 31, worked for Local 98's apprentice training fund, and was one of several people tasked with making purchases using union credit cards between 2014 and 2016. The indictment labels him as one of "the kids" who regularly performed personal errands and chores for Dougherty. He was the second person to enter a guilty plea for six counts of embezzlement.
Another one of "the kids," Fiocca, is Dougherty's nephew. Between 2014 and 2015, Fiocca, 31, worked at the Local 98 office, helping to make thousands of dollars in personal purchases with union funds. These purchases were later misrepresented as union expenses, according to the indictment. He pleaded guilty to six counts of embezzlement on Thursday.
Each of the defendants is scheduled to be sentenced in April. The guilty pleas were entered just weeks before Dougherty and Burrows are set to stand trial on related charges.
