{"id":279258,"date":"2026-09-04T22:06:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T22:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/279258\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T22:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T22:06:08","slug":"former-ibew-philadelphia-labor-boss-johnny-doc-released-from-prison-after-trump-commutes-sentence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/279258\/","title":{"rendered":"Former IBEW Philadelphia labor boss Johnny Doc released from prison after Trump commutes sentence"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — The once-powerful Philadelphia labor leader John “Johnny Doc” Dougherty<\/a> was released from prison Friday afternoon after President Donald Trump granted a commutation of his sentence.<\/p>\n

Action News has learned he was released around 3:45 p.m. from a prison in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, about an hour and a half north of Harrisburg.<\/p>\n

Dougherty had been serving a six-year sentence after being convicted of bribing<\/a> a Philadelphia City Council member and stealing nearly $600,000 from the labor union he led for nearly three decades.<\/p>\n

“He’s a free man right now. He can go home and take care of his wife,” said Dougherty’s attorney, George Bochetto.<\/p>\n

Bochetto said the primary reason Trump is allowing Dougherty out of prison roughly four years early is to help care for his sick wife.<\/p>\n

In a statement to Action News, the White House claimed her father had been caring for her but has recently passed away.<\/p>\n

“She needs around-the-clock nursing care, and it’s very, very expensive and frankly they’re out of money,” Bochetto said. “She had metastatic brain damage and is essentially paralyzed from the neck down.”<\/p>\n

Bochetto said the year-and-a-half effort to get him out early involved a series of interviews, submitting documents to the Department of Justice, and proving to the White House why he needed to go home.<\/p>\n

“Believe me when I tell you, the Trump administration was very demanding in terms of detailed information and facts that they wanted,” Bochetto explained.<\/p>\n

“I think he would say it is a magnificent gesture of compassion and the president has really proven that he rises above politics and does the right thing,” Bochetto added.<\/p>\n

RELATED | Fmr. Philadelphia labor leader John Dougherty convicted of embezzling $650,000 from union <\/a><\/p>\n

Dougherty was an influential figure within the Democratic Party and led Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers for nearly three decades before his conviction.<\/p>\n

In 2024, he was ordered to serve 6 years in prison plus 3 years of supervised release.<\/p>\n

In 2021, Dougherty was convicted on bribery charges<\/a> in a separate trial, along with former city councilmember Bobby Henon.<\/p>\n

Stay with Action News as we continue to follow this developing story.<\/p>\n

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