Mistrial declared in extortion trial for John Dougherty and his nephew

READING – John Dougherty’s federal extortion case ended in a mistrial Thursday, offering an ambiguous conclusion to the embattled labor leader’s third felony trial in as many years.

After roughly 11 hours of deliberations, jurors told U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Schmehl they were hopelessly deadlocked on all of the 19 counts of conspiracy and extortion that Dougherty and his nephew, Greg Fiocca, faced.

Filing out of the Reading courthouse late Thursday evening, prosecutors declined to comment on the inconclusive end to Dougherty’s third federal trial.

It remains unclear whether they will seek to retry the case.

The inconclusive jury, said Greg Fiocca’s attorney, Rocco Cipparone, was the “right result.”

“We are hopeful for a not guilty, but we will take the hung jury at this stage,” Cipparone said outside the courthouse late Thursday night.

Leaving court Thursday, John Dougherty offered little comment about the jury’s decision, but said he was in a hurry to return to Philadelphia.

“I’m going home to spend the last two hours of my birthday with my wife,” he said as he left the courthouse flanked by family and attorneys. (The former union chief turned 64 on Thursday.)

Dougherty showed little reaction in court as the judge declared the mistrial in his case, letting only a small smile flash across his face.

As the parties filed out of the room, Fiocca appeared in good spirits, thanking his attorney Rocco Cipparone and making small jokes as they left the courtroom.

The judge has declared a mistrial in Dougherty’s extortion case after jurors reported they were hopelessly deadlocked for a third time after roughly 11 hours of deliberations.

The decision ends the former labor leader’s third federal trial on a decidedly inconclusive note.

The jury has reported it’s deadlocked.

Just after 8:00 p.m, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Schmehl announced he’d received a note from the panel earlier in the evening reporting that their deliberations were at a standstill.

The jury emerged for yet another question just after 7:30 p.m., asking the judge to “define the concept and definition of extortion and how the party committing the extortion doesn’t need to be aware that it is a crime for it to be considered a crime.”

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Schmehl repeated portions of the jury instructions he gave them this morning, outlining to the panel for a third time today elements required to deliver an extortion conviction.

As the jury’s deliberations continue, Dougherty has passed the time milling about, making small talk and noshing on doughnuts and soft pretzels with family members waiting in a nearby conference room. He informed a group of reporters waiting in the courtroom that Thursday was his 64th birthday.

“Just so you know,” he quipped, as the day dragged on into night, “I’m definitely celebrating with you.”

While Dougherty mills about the Reading courthouse awaiting a verdict in his third federal trial in as many years, the judge has officially pushed the sentencing date for his prior bribery and embezzlement convictions back by two months.

The former labor leader — who has remained free on bail since 2019 — was originally slated to be sentenced next week, but in court filings Thursday, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl rescheduled that date to July 11.

After hours of closed-door deliberations, the jury has emerged with another set of questions.

In the first, the panel requested more information on whether Dougherty and his nephew “have a right to use tactics such as pulling a man off the job.”

They’re still at it. Nearly six hours after they began their deliberations this morning, jurors remain cloistered away working on a possible verdict in the case.

Typically, court has ended around 4:30 or 5 p.m. each day. But as the clock reached that hour Thursday, signs emerged that we could be in for a long night.

Jurors have emerged with their first questions after roughly two and a half hours of deliberations.

The panel requested the chance to review a transcript entered into evidence during the trial and asked U.S. District Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl to once again repeat the elements required to convict Dougherty and Fiocca on the conspiracy and extortion charges they’re facing.

The federal extortion case of former labor leader John Dougherty and his nephew, Greg Fiocca, now rests in the jury’s hands.

Before releasing the panel to begin discussing the case, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl stressed to jurors that Dougherty and Fiocca have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them, and that the men should be considered innocent unless the government has proven otherwise, beyond a reasonable doubt.

Good morning from the federal courthouse in Reading, where jurors in the extortion trial of John Dougherty and his nephew, Greg Fiocca, are expected to begin deliberations today.

But before the 12-member panel begins their closed-door deliberations in attempt to render a unanimous verdict, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl is delivering instructions to jurors on the law.

After six days of testimony, two dozen witnesses, countless text message transcripts, and one key secret recording, the extortion case against John Dougherty and his nephew is set to go to the jury Thursday.

Before letting jurors go for the night Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl explained he will instruct the panel of six men and six women on the law first thing Thursday morning before sending them to the deliberation room in hopes of reaching a unanimous verdict.

With their final pitches to jurors Wednesday, attorneys in John Dougherty’s federal extortion trial sought to cement two vastly different portraits of the former labor leader with the panel charged with rendering a verdict in the case.

As Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Costello told it, Dougherty was an enabler, willing to overlook his nephew’s 2020 assault on a supervisor and use every tool at his disposal — including threats of economic harm — to keep him employed.

Unlike John Dougherty’s two earlier trials — both of which played out at the federal courthouse in Center City — his third will take place in Reading, starting with opening arguments there Wednesday, once jury selection in Philadelphia is done.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl, who has presided over all of Dougherty’s recent legal matters, is normally stationed at the small federal courthouse in downtown Reading.

Greg Fiocca, 31, is John Dougherty’s nephew and a former member of Local 98 who grew up in in Pennsport in the house next door to his uncle.

But despite Fiocca’s troubled work history, including altercations with former supervisors, Dougherty appointed him in 2020 to the plum posting as Local 98′s steward on Live! Casino’s project.

John Dougherty, widely known as “Johnny Doc,” was once considered the most powerful union leader in the state, transforming Local 98 in his three decades at its helm into a powerhouse in the arenas of politics and organized labor.

Under his oversight, union money and manpower helped elect governors, members of Congress, mayors, judges, and members of City Council, and his once sleepy electrician’s union became a force capable of extracting significant labor concessions from some of the largest companies in the region.

For a third time in as many years, John Dougherty is facing a federal felony trial — this time on conspiracy and extortion charges.

The former labor leader and his nephew, Greg Fiocca, are accused of threatening a contractor and a job site manager amid a dispute over Fiocca’s poor job performance and pay. Prosecutors say that while working on construction of the Live! Casino in South Philadelphia in 2020, Fiocca assaulted his supervisor and that Dougherty later threatened the block the contractor’s ability to land future work in Philadelphia.