Former Ironworkers business agent sentenced
Christopher Prophet received a prison sentence of five years, three months behind bars.
FORMER IRONWORKERS business agent Christopher Prophet was sentenced by a federal judge yesterday to five years and three months in prison for vandalizing non-union construction sites and encouraging others to do so.
Prophet, 44, looking like a muscular construction worker dressed in blue jeans and a green T-shirt with "Ironworkers Local 401" on its back, told U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson: "I'm truly sorry to the victims and their families." He pleaded guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy and extortion.
His stepfather, James Palumbo, told the judge he's seen Prophet grow into a "manful man," a good husband and a good father to two teenage kids. Then, Prophet's father, Patrick Prophet, emotionally told the judge how Prophet's case has impacted his wife and kids.
When his father spoke, Prophet turned his face away and appeared to be wiping away tears.
Prophet was one of the union's four business agents. He oversaw construction sites in Bucks and Montgomery counties.
He first pleaded guilty in December under a plea agreement by his attorney, Timothy Tarpey, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Livermore in which Prophet would have been sentenced to five years in prison if the judge accepted the plea. But Baylson, in April, rejected the agreement.
Tarpey told the judge yesterday that his client "never escalated the tradition of 'night work,' " or crimes done on behalf of the union. He said the "night work" Prophet was involved in consisted of six acts over five years and never involved arson.
Prosecutors said Prophet and his "Shadow Gang" used sledgehammers to destroy anchor bolts at non-union construction sites.
In sentencing, Baylson said he took into account that Prophet was a business agent - a union leader who "had a major role in encouraging others and rewarding others to perform criminal conduct." Baylson also said incarceration was necessary to deter violence by unions in a city with a history of union violence.
The judge ordered Prophet to pay restitution of $138,000.
In all, 12 Ironworkers members were charged by the feds last year. Eleven pleaded guilty, and all 11 have now been sentenced.
Prophet was ordered to begin his prison sentence July 20. On that day, the final defendant is to be sentenced - former union head Joseph Dougherty, 73, who was the lone defendant to take his case to trial. He was convicted by a jury in January of RICO conspiracy, arson and extortion.