For the third time in as many years, John Dougherty strode into the Philadelphia federal courthouse on Market Street on Monday preparing to once again select a jury to determine his fate.
With Dougherty’s sentencing for those earlier convictions looming in May, the jury’s conclusion in his latest criminal trial —— could potentially result in more prison time for the man once considered a political kingmaker and the most powerful labor leader in the commonwealth. Both men have denied the charges against them and maintain the government has exaggerated a pay dispute and scuffle over which the Philadelphia police opted not to pursue charges. Dougherty, his attorneys have said, was merely fighting for the wages of his nephew, a member of Local 98.