Dominoes fall in Ironworkers RICO case

THEY WERE tough guys who participated in "goon squads," the feds said - men who smashed anchor bolts or committed arson at work sites where builders didn't use Ironworkers labor. One squad called itself "T.H.U.G." (for "The Helpful Union Guys").

Yesterday, the dominoes started falling in the case of 10 members of Ironworkers Local 401 who were indicted in February on racketeering conspiracy or related offenses, as two members pleaded guilty in federal court.

Francis Sean O'Donnell, 43, of Warminster, a former business agent whose territory included parts of Delaware and Chester counties, told U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson that he was pleading guilty "to show my kids to do the right thing. . . . There's nothing wrong in being honest."

William Gillin, also 43, of Philadelphia, who was an Ironworkers member, said he was pleading "because I'm guilty of all the charges presented by the government."

Gillin and another Ironworkers member, James Walsh, had planned the December 2012 arson at the site of a new Quaker meetinghouse in Chestnut Hill. On the night of Dec. 20, they went to the site carrying a portable acetylene torch and two gasoline containers, according to Gillin's plea memo. Walsh used the torch to cut the building's metal infrastructure and Gillin poured gasoline on a crane and set it ablaze.

The reason for such violence? As at other construction sites, the Ironworkers engaged in a pattern of racketeering crimes including arson and extortion to force or attempt to force nonunion contractors to hire their members, according to the feds.

Gillin also helped to plan a July 2013 arson at a warehouse on Grays Avenue in Southwest Philly and an October 2013 attempted arson in Malvern. He pleaded guilty yesterday to RICO conspiracy and six fire-related offenses.

According to his plea memo, Gillin had found it difficult to find consistent work after the financial crisis several years ago. He needed regular jobs to keep his union benefits, including health insurance. Both he and his wife had health problems.

The "business agents were not selecting him for jobs very often," his plea memo says. "Gillin saw that the plum job assignments were given to ironworkers who committed crimes on behalf of the union - commonly referred to as 'nightwork.' " So, he "wanted to perform nightwork to receive preferable job assignments," the document says.

O'Donnell, who became a business agent in 2011, was supervised by the union's former longtime leader, Joseph Dougherty, who ran the union with an "iron fist," and to whom another defendant, Richard Ritchie, had allegedly referred as the "Jimmy Hoffa" of the union, according to the feds.

A business agent's job included ensuring that all ironwork done in their territory was performed by members. If legal methods didn't work, O'Donnell "resorted to 'nightwork,' " his plea memo says.

O'Donnell pleaded guilty to RICO conspiracy and two fire-related offenses. He participated in more than 10 extortions or attempted extortions, the feds said. He "referred to a group of ironworkers who smashed anchor bolts and destroyed equipment on his behalf as the 'Shadow Gang,' " his plea memo says.

Among the crimes he participated in were attempted extortions of contractors at elementary-school sites in Wallingford and Sharon Hill. In Wallingford, he and other Ironworkers smashed anchor bolts with sledgehammers in an attempt to force the contractor to hire its members.

O'Donnell faces a mandatory-minimum sentence of five years in prison when he is sentenced Jan. 13. Gillin faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years behind bars when he is sentenced Jan. 14.

Two other defendants - Walsh and Greg Sullivan - are expected to plead guilty today.

Former business agent Edward Sweeney and another defendant, Shawn Bailey, are to plead guilty Sept. 30. Co-defendant Daniel Hennigar is to plead guilty Oct. 1.

Meanwhile, four defendants - Dougherty, 73; former business agents Christopher Prophet and William O'Donnell (Francis Sean O'Donnell's uncle); and Ritchie - will head to trial Jan. 5.

Since the initial 10 defendants were indicted, two other union members were recently charged. Bailey and James Zinn were charged by criminal information, not indictment, signaling that they plan to plead guilty.