Union Dude Pleads Guilty To 98 Fed Charges, Denies ‘Illegal Payments’ To Doc
A Philadelphia electrical contractor pleaded guilty this morning to 98 federal charges – but not to two counts alleging that he made illegal payments to union leader and State Senate candidate John J. Dougherty. The case against the electrician, Donald “Gus” Dougherty, has been closely watched because of the forthcoming election and an FBI and IRS investigation of John Dougherty that sources said remains active. But it was Gus Dougherty in court this morning, pleading guilty before U.S. District Judge Eduardo C. Robreno to tax evasion, filing false tax returns, theft, making false statements and bribing a bank official who helped him obtain $4.7 million in loans when his credit rating was poor. His trial on the remaining two charges is set for May 19 before Robreno. In those counts, the electrician is accused of two alleged “illegal payments” to John Dougherty: the sale of a Shore house for $24,000 less than market value, and the performance of $115,000 worth of electrical work on his Philadelphia home. [via THE INQUIRER]
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Marilyn Monroe Blow Job Film Sold To Rich Collector For Private Use Only
In the sordid tradition of peddling raunchy video footage of celebrities à la Paris Hilton, a long-buried sex movie of Marilyn Monroe recently hit the market, a top collector told The Post. An illicit copy of the steamy, still-FBI-classified reel — 15 minutes of 16mm film footage in which the original blond bombshell performs oral sex on an unidentified man –– was just sold to a New York businessman for $1.5 million, said Keya Morgan, the well-known memorabilia collector who discovered the film and brokered its purchase. The footage appears to have been shot in the 1950s. When it came to light in the mid-’60s, then-FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover had his agents spend two weeks futilely trying to prove that Monroe’s sex partner was either John F. Kennedy or Robert F. Kennedy, according to declassified agency documents and interviews, Morgan said. The silent black-and-white flick shows Monroe on her knees in front of a man whose face is just out of the shot. He never moves into the shot, indicating that he knew the camera was there, but Monroe never looks at the lens, said Morgan, who saw the footage. [via NEW YORK POST]
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‘TOUGH COOKIE’ CRUMBLES: D.A. Abraham WILL NOT Enforce New City Gun Laws
Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham says the city’s newly enacted gun control laws are unconstitutional. At a hearing Tuesday before City Council, Abraham said her opinion is the laws passed last week are illegal and will be successfully challenged as soon as the first person is charged. The new laws, backed by Mayor Michael Nutter, include a requirement to report lost or stolen guns, and a one-per-person-per month limit on gun purchases. Abraham agrees with state lawmakers that only the Legislature can enact gun controls. She told council her office won’t enforce the new Philadelphia statues. Nutter says he hopes his law department can convince Abraham that the changes are defensible. [via ASSOCIATED PRESS]
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MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE WAR: Car Bombs Kills 60 In Iraq
Car bombs and a suicide attacker struck crowded areas in Baghdad and former insurgent strongholds to the north and west of the capital Tuesday, killing nearly 60 people and breaking a recent lull in violence in the predominantly Sunni areas. The attacks were a deadly reminder of the threat posed by suspected Sunni insurgents even as clashes between Shiite militia fighters and U.S.-Iraqi forces continued elsewhere. The U.S. military condemned the bombings and said they appeared to have been carried out by al-Qaida in Iraq. The first blast occurred in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, when a car parked in front of a restaurant exploded just before noon across the street from the central courthouse and other government offices. One survivor described a huge fire that sent black smoke billowing into the sky and left charred bodies inside their cars. “I was on my way to the government office when a big explosion occurred nearby,” said the witness, who would only identify himself by his nickname Abu Ali. “As I approached the site, I saw cars on fire, burned bodies and damaged shops damaged with shattered glass everywhere.” AP Television News footage showed many of the bodies covered in crisp white sheets in the main hospital’s courtyard while the emergency room inside was overwhelmed with the wounded. [via ASSOCIATED PRESS]