President Donald Trump has pardoned former Cincinnati City Councilmember P.G. Sittenfeld, according to CNN.
Sittenfeld was convicted in 2022 on two counts related to accepting $20,000 in campaign contributions in exchange for his assistance with a development project for the former Convention Place Mall in downtown Cincinnati. Sittenfeld was sentenced to 16 months in prison, and his post-trial request to overturn the conviction was denied.
Sittenfeld is the only known Democrat among the 13 individuals pardoned by Trump this week. Notable figures in the bunch include former New York Congressman Michael Grimm, former Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland, rapper NBA YoungBoy, former professional boxer Charles “Duke” Tanner, former Arkansas State Senator Jeremy Hutchinson and labor union leader James Callahan.
The background of Sittenfeld’s federal corruption case
FBI agents arrested Sittenfeld at his home in November of 2020 on a six-count federal indictment for bribery and extortion. Investigators said Sittenfeld had arranged what amounted to campaign donations, though he circumvented election law by directing those payments to a Political Action Committee which he secretly controlled. Sittenfeld promised favorable development deals as he personally accepted 10 checks, for a total of $40,000, in exchange for votes, investigators said.
When announcing Sittenfeld’s indictment, U.S. Attorney David DeVillers said Sittenfeld had vowed to use the city’s zoning laws to make sure the Convention Place Mall project would be the only one in the area with sports gambling. In an exchange included in the indictment, Sittenfeld told an undercover source posing as a developer, “I can move more votes than any single person” on the council.
Sittenfeld was suspended from Cincinnati City Council in December of that year. To replace him, Hamilton County Probate Judge Ralph “Ted” Winkler appointed Liz Keating. Before the indictment, Sittenfeld had been considered a frontrunner in the 2021 Cincinnati mayoral race, which former Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Aftab Pureval ultimately won. Sittenfeld announced his withdrawal from the race on Feb. 18 of that year.
The charges against Sittenfeld were part of a larger scandal that enveloped the city at the time. The carousel of corruption cases began when Councilmember Tamaya Dennard was indicted on federal bribery charges related to her solicitation of $15,000 from a local attorney. Dennard resigned in March 2020, pleaded guilty that June, and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Councilmember Jeff Pastor was charged in November 2020 on 10 federal counts of bribery, extortion, money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud — he’s since been released from federal prison. In 2018, Sittenfeld was part of the “Gang of Five” texting scandal that involved several council members.
Related
Ex-City Council Member Jeff Pastor ‘Fresh Out The Slammer,’ IG Post Confirms
Follow CityBeat’s staff news writer Madeline Fening on Instagram. Got a news tip? Email mfening@citybeat.com.
This article appears in May 28 – Jun 10, 2025.