WASHINGTON — 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, New York, 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.
Callahan’s lawyers and a spokesperson for Martin didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
Earlier this month, prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of six months for Callahan, calling him “one of the most powerful union leaders in the country.” They said Callahan’s salary and other compensation topped $500,000 annually. Now retired and living in Florida, he has a net worth of more than $5 million, according to prosecutors.
“That the Operating Engineers were unknowingly funding Defendant Callahan’s spree of pricey entertainments — a lifestyle his substantial salary could easily accommodate — is especially condemning,” they wrote.
Callahan’s plea agreement required him to repay the union $315,000 for the tickets and to immediately resign as union president.
“Those tickets and amenities properly belonged to the Operating Engineers, and yet Defendant Callahan used many of those tickets personally and provided other tickets to members of his family and persons who were not members of the Operating Engineers,” prosecutors wrote.
The Washington-based union that Callahan led represents nearly 400,000 heavy machinery operators on construction and industrial sites throughout the U.S. and Canada.