Ironworker jailed in racketeering case

His reluctance to use violence and sabotage as negotiating tactics prompted union colleagues to call him "a zero" and "a waste."

Prosecutors have referred to him as the "reluctant racketeer."

Still, William O'Donnell was sentenced to six months in prison and six months of house arrest Monday for his limited role in Ironworkers Local 401's years-long campaign to extort jobs for members by intimidating builders with threats and attacks.

"This kind of conduct in a civilized society . . . is outrageous," U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson said during the hearing in federal court.

O'Donnell, 62 and a lifelong union member, was the latest in a steady stream of ironworkers to face sentencing in a racketeering conspiracy case that netted 12 members, including longtime union head Joseph Dougherty.

Prosecutors allege that violence was so ingrained in the union's structure that willingness to participate in arsons, vandalism, and beatings on picket lines - called "nightwork" by members - often decided who received plum jobs or moved up in the union hierarchy.

Another union member - James Zinn, a trustee - was sentenced to one year and one day behind bars Monday for his role in several acts of sabotage on behalf of the union at suburban work sites.

But O'Donnell, who worked as an elected organizer for Local 401 in Philadelphia, was always an unenthusiastic participant, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Livermore said.

"There is no evidence that William O'Donnell ever personally engaged in 'nightwork,' there is no evidence that William O'Donnell suggested that anyone engage in 'nightwork,' and there is no evidence that William O'Donnell ever overtly threatened anyone with 'nightwork," he wrote in recent court filings.

In fact, Dougherty was so disappointed in O'Donnell's resistance to violence that he plotted to oust him from his elected position and strip him of his pension. Eventually, O'Donnell was moved into a role overseeing city work sites that used almost all-union work, including oil rigs and the airport.

O'Donnell pleaded guilty in December to playing a small role in two incidents, including a July 2013 demonstration outside a work site at 19th and Arch Streets that escalated into a brawl between union carpenters and ironworkers, who accused the rival union of stealing their jobs.

"Mr. O'Donnell is extraordinarily remorseful for the harm caused to the victims of Local 401's extortionate activities and the accompanying harm to legitimate, hardworking members of the union," his lawyer, Greg Pagano, said.

Six more ironworkers, including Dougherty and O'Donnell's nephew Francis Sean O'Donnell, remain to be sentenced.