CINCINNATI — President Donald Trump has issued several pardons, including one to former Cincinnati City Council member Alexander "P.G." Sittenfeld.
Once a rising political star and favorite to be Cincinnati's mayor, Sittenfeld was sentenced to spend 16 months in prison for bribery and attempted extortion. He served roughly four and a half months before he was released for the duration of his appeal.
Sittenfeld had asked to have his public corruption conviction thrown out; the appeal process began in May 2024.
Sittenfeld has maintained that he did nothing illegal by accepting $20,000 in campaign donations from undercover FBI agents who were posing as developers and championing their project to redevelop a blighted downtown property into a boutique hotel because he was a pro-development politician.
Watch: Hours of recordings played during P.G. Sittenfeld's three-week corruption were released. The recordings show exactly what jurors heard and saw before finding him guilty of bribery and extortion.
When Sittenfeld took the witness stand during his 2022 trial, he admitted that he'll "probably never be in politics again."
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine had few words to share in reaction to the pardon. He was asked about it during a press conference on Thursday.
"I don't have any comment," DeWine said. "These are decisions that are made by the president of the United States. I have authority in regard to state pardons, and I will always tell you about why I made a decision."
Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Kearney released a statement following the announcement of Sittenfeld being pardoned. The statement reads, "PG worked hard for the City of Cincinnati, especially underserved communities. He pushed for more funding for affordable housing for low to moderate-income residents, worked to eradicate food deserts, and re-ignited the environmental justice initiative to move the City’s gun range out of Lincoln Heights. Before he left City Council, he was looking at the feasibility of establishing a Cincinnati Civil Rights Commission. There is more work to do, and with this legal matter behind him, PG is now able to get back to work in some way for the people of Cincinnati."
U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman, a former Cincinnati City Council member, released the following statement: "I know what you all know, which is what I’m reading. I’ll wait to learn more and may have more to say then. In the meantime, I don’t know much—other than what I’m reading in the news.”
We reached out to more than a dozen current and former city leaders for comment about the pardon. As of now, only a few have responded, including Councilman Jeff Cramerding.
"I was very surprised. Obviously, President Trump is a Republican. I just, I did not see him pardoning a democratic council member in the city of Cincinnati," Cramerding said.
Cramerding ran for Cincinnati City Council in the aftermath of Sittenfeld's 2020 arrest. He said current council members take ethics violations seriously.
"I hope and believe that all the lessons have been learned and that council members will not put themselves in a difficult position—a position that they should not be in," he said. "I don't know whether he was innocent or guilty, but he should not have been in a hotel room meeting with developers, and that occurred with all of the indictments."
Hear more from Cramerding in the video below:
Sittenfeld was the third council member the FBI arrested in 2020 on public corruption charges stemming from a massive sting at Cincinnati City Hall involving at least three undercover FBI agents and multiple informants who secretly recorded numerous elected leaders over two years.
Former council member Tamaya Dennard pleaded guilty to honest services wire fraud for accepting $15,000 as part of a scheme to exchange her votes for money. A judge sentenced her to 18 months in prison and she was released in 2022.
Former council member Jeff Pastor also pleaded guilty to honest services wire fraud. Prosecutors said he took $55,000 in bribes in exchange for votes on development deals. He was sent to prison, but was released in December to serve the last seven months of his sentence either at a halfway house or home confinement.
This is a breaking news update. We'll add more as we learn it.
