President Donald Trump has pardoned former Cincinnati Council member P.G. Sittenfeld. That's according to a listing published in the New York Times. The White House has not yet released an official statement.
Sittenfeld was convicted on two counts of bribery in 2022 for accepting $20,000 in campaign donations from undercover FBI agents posing as developers. Taped conversations captured Sittenfeld telling the officers he could "deliver the votes" related to a Downtown development and that he wouldn't want to have to say, "love you man, but can't" to developer Chinedum Ndukwe, who was working with the FBI on the operation.
Sittenfeld appealed his conviction. However, a three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court rejected the appeal.
Sittenfeld served roughly four-and-a-half months of a 16-month sentence before being released in May 2024 pending the appeals decision.
His attorneys said earlier this year they would seek a U.S. Supreme Court review of his conviction. The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in February ruled Sittenfeld could remain free as his attorneys sought that review.
The city of Cincinnati had requested Sittenfeld repay the City Council salary and benefits he earned while on suspension during the time between his arrest in November 2020 and when his Council term expired on Jan. 4, 2022. The amount is $82,783.15. City Solicitor Emily Woerner told WVXU Sittenfeld has not repaid the money, and Trump’s pardon likely means Sittenfeld doesn't have to.
WVXU has reached out for comment to Sittenfeld and the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of Ohio.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine was asked about the pardon Thursday. He said he had no comment, other than to say, "These are decisions that are made by the President of the United States. I have authority in regard to state pardons. And I always will tell you about why I made a decision."
— WVXU's Nick Swartsell contributed to this report.
Read more:
- What are the odds P.G. Sittenfeld's case lands before the U.S. Supreme Court?
- Former Council member P.G. Sittenfeld loses appeal on bribery conviction
- Former Council member P.G. Sittenfeld sentenced in corruption case
- Analysis: How P.G. Sittenfeld's political ambitions led him to a criminal trial on bribery charges
