Former Cincinnati City Council member and one-time mayoral contender P.G. Sittenfeld could be a step closer to having his public corruption conviction reversed.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday issued an order sending his case back to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. That court previously upheld the jury's guilty verdict but suggested SCOTUS should consider the case.
President Donald Trump last May issued a pardon for Sittenfeld's 2022 conviction on one count of bribery and one count of extortion. Sittenfeld had served less than five months of a 16-month sentence and was out of prison awaiting a ruling on an appeal at the time.
Trump's pardon negated the rest of his sentence but did not officially remove the conviction. Sittenfeld's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to strike it down to remedy "collateral consequences" caused by having the felonies on his record and to recover a $40,000 fine Sittenfeld paid.
In its order Monday, the Supreme Court remanded the case to the appeals court. The court will rule on a motion filed by U.S. attorneys last year asking to dismiss the original indictment against Sittenfeld in light of the presidential pardon.
What happened to P.G. Sittenfeld?
After a lengthy two-year FBI investigation, a federal grand jury agreed to charge Sittenfeld with two counts each of honest service wire fraud, bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, and attempted extortion by a government official in 2020. Federal agents arrested him at his home Nov. 19, 2020.
A jury found Sittenfeld guilty on one charge of bribery and one charge of extortion in 2022. He was found not guilty of both counts of honest services wire fraud and one count each of bribery and extortion.
At the center of Sittenfeld's conviction: allegations he received $20,000 from undercover FBI agents.
Federal prosecutors alleged Sittenfeld took the bribes in 2018 in the form of four checks from LLCs to his political action committee. Those contributions came with an understanding, prosecutors alleged, that Sittenfeld would deliver a veto-proof majority on approvals for a development project at 435 Elm Street Downtown.
The FBI enlisted developer Chinedum Ndukwe to act as an informant in that case. Ndukwe had been under FBI investigation for allegations, including money laundering, prior to aiding the federal investigation into Sittenfeld.
The prosecution used taped conversations between the agents and Sittenfeld, including one in which he stated, "I can deliver the votes," to convince the jury.
Sittenfeld has denied he accepted the money in exchange for favorable votes on any development deal.
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