Trump pardons Lindenhurst labor union leader on eve of sentencing for failing to report gifts
James Callahan was general president of the International Union of Operating Engineers when he accepted — but failed to properly report — receiving at least $315,000 in tickets to sporting events and concerts and other amenities from a company that the union used to place ads.
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A labor union leader who pleaded guilty to failing to report gifts from an advertising firm was pardoned by President Donald Trump on the eve of his sentencing hearing Wednesday, court records show.
James Callahan, of Lindenhurst, was general president of the International Union of Operating Engineers when he accepted — but failed to properly report — receiving at least $315,000 in tickets to sporting events and concerts and other amenities from a company that the union used to place ads.
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes was scheduled to sentence Callahan on Wednesday. On Tuesday, however, Callahan’s attorneys notified the court of Trump’s “full and unconditional” pardon and asked for the sentencing hearing to be vacated. The pardon itself doesn’t specify why Trump granted him clemency.
The judge is holding Callahan’s sentence “in abeyance” — a temporary state of suspension — until prosecutors file a formal request to dismiss the case, court records show.
Ed Martin Jr., now the Justice Department’s pardon attorney, was acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia when Callahan pleaded guilty on Jan. 29 to knowingly filing false annual reports with the U.S. Labor Department.
