BOSTON, Jan. 4, 2012— A former union official convicted of stealing more than $100,000 from funds contributed by his fellow union members was sentenced to jail time today – the second such sentence handed down in thefts from that organization, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

A Suffolk Superior Court jury on Dec. 19 convicted JOHN HORAN (D.O.B. 7/16/54) of two counts of larceny over $250 by scheme for the theft of $105,812.53 from Local 600 of the Office and Professional Employees International Union while Horan served as its president.

Today, Suffolk Superior Court Judge Christine M. Roach sentenced Horan, a Spencer resident, to two years in the house of correction. Roach ordered that he serve six months of that term up front, with the remainder suspended for a period of five years.

Assistant District Attorney Benjamin Goldberger of Conley’s Special Prosecutions Unit had recommended Horan serve a state prison sentence of 18 months to two years – a recommendation, Conley said, that reflects the seriousness of Horan’s criminal acts over the span of five years.

Horan will also have to pay restitution, which will be addressed at a hearing at a later date. A status date on that matter has been scheduled for Feb. 20.

Horan is the second former official convicted of stealing from the union. BRIAN SHEEHY (D.O.B. 7/26/69) pleaded guilty on Oct. 4 to three counts of larceny over $250 for the theft of $130,243.95 from the same union while serving as its secretary treasurer. He was sentenced to nine months in jail, with four months to serve and probation for a period of five years.

Local 600 represents more than 300 MBTA inspectors and chief inspectors and has an annual operating budget of about $300,000 accrued from members’ and retirees’ dues. The two cases came as a result of theft and misuse of hundreds of thousands of dollars from the union’s bank account and credit cards, not from the MBTA itself, between 2005 and 2010.

Horan was for 10 years the union’s president and business manager. Sheehy was selected by the union’s executive board to be its secretary-treasurer in 2005. Both men had signature authority over the union’s operating account.

In 2010, Horan retired as president and Sheehy ran unsuccessfully to succeed him. When the new administration took office, they found what appeared to be suspicious withdrawals from the union’s credit union account and confronted Sheehy.

In a text message to the new president following that confrontation, Sheehy stated that he “made a terrible mistake” and “breached the trust of a lot of people.” Between December 2010 and January 2011, he repaid about $93,000 and then declared bankruptcy.

A review by union officials and an investigation by State Police detectives assigned to Conley’s office indicated that Sheehy had withdrawn at least $98,000 in cash from the union’s bank account and that Horan had withdrawn at least $1,700.

Based on payroll records obtained during the course of the probe, authorities believe that both men regularly overpaid themselves, as well. Under inspector’s union rules, the union pays its president a rate 15% higher than that of a chief inspector and reimburses its secretary-treasurer for any MBTA wages lost as a result of time spent working on behalf of the union. Horan, the president, inflated his pay by $77,160.82 between 2005 and 2010, and Sheehy, the secretary-treasurer, inflated his by $158,826.73 during the same time period. Sheehy also wrote himself checks on the union’s bank account and used a union credit card to make unauthorized purchases of gasoline amounting to more than $3,000.

Horan was represented by Jeff Travaline.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.