Ironworkers business agent Sweeney gets 8 years

LIKENING HIM to former Ironworkers union boss Joseph Dougherty's righthand man, a federal judge yesterday said former business agent Edward Sweeney "consistently and flagrantly" carried out crimes.

"Mr. Sweeney was his [Dougherty's] able, willing and ready lieutenant to go out and commit crimes more than any other business agent by far," U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson said at Sweeney's sentencing hearing.

Baylson sentenced Sweeney to eight years in federal prison - going above the six to seven years recommended by prosecutors.

The judge singled out the December 2012 arson at the site of a new Quaker meetinghouse being built in Chestnut Hill as especially heinous. "The concept of burning a religious institution merely because that institution hired nonunion workers is so reprehensible and incomprehensible to me," the judge said. "Who would do such a thing in America?"

Sweeney wasn't the person who torched the building's metal infrastructure or who lit a crane ablaze, but he "was the director, manager and originator of that arson," the judge said.

Sweeney, 56, who is no longer involved in the union, apologized for his "actions and inactions." He pleaded guilty in September to racketeering conspiracy, extortion and four arson-related counts.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Livermore said Sweeney began cooperating with the FBI on the day he was arrested last year. Sweeney also testified at Dougherty's trial in January. Dougherty, 73, was convicted and faces sentencing June 24.

In court documents, Livermore said Sweeney faced enormous pressure from members and from Dougherty to convince contractors to hire union Ironworkers. "Dougherty expected Sweeney to use whatever means necessary to turn these jobs around," Livermore wrote.

Sweeney's attorney, Carmen Nasuti III, has noted that before joining the union, Sweeney served in the Army and suffered significant injuries as a paratrooper. He now walks with a cane.

As an Ironworker working in North Jersey on Sept. 11, 2001, Sweeney rushed to Ground Zero in New York to help after the terror attacks, Nasuti said.

Of Sweeney's reaction to the sentence, Nasuti said: "Obviously, nobody would be pleased looking at any amount of jail time, but he understands the reality of the situation."

Sweeney was ordered to begin his prison term June 8. The judge also ordered him to pay $217,612 in restitution and serve three years' supervised release after prison.