P.G. Sittenfeld

Alexander Paul George Sittenfeld (born October 1, 1984) is an American politician who served on the Cincinnati City Council from 2011 to 2020. In 2022, Sittenfeld was convicted on federal charges of bribery and attempted extortion in connection with an undercover investigation by the FBI. In May 2025, following the rejection of his appeal, he was granted a pardon by President Donald Trump.

A member of the Democratic Party, he became the youngest person ever elected to the council at the age of 27. Prior to his election, Sittenfeld was assistant director at the Community Learning Center Institute in Cincinnati. In January 2015, he announced his 2016 bid for Ohio's U.S. Senate seat, then held by Republican Rob Portman. On March 15, 2016, Sittenfeld lost the Senate Democratic primary election to former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland. On July 12, 2020, Sittenfeld announced that he would run in the 2021 Cincinnati mayoral election, but dropped out of the race following his arrest on political corruption charges.

On November 19, 2020, Sittenfeld was arrested on federal charges of corruption and bribery, and was then suspended from his seat on council. Sittenfeld's arrest was part of a broader FBI focus on rooting out political corruption in Cincinnati. Sittenfeld accepted $40,000 in bribes from undercover FBI agents posing as real estate investors in exchange for votes on a matter before the city council. On July 8, 2022, following a two-and-a-half week trial in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati, Sittenfeld was convicted on two felony counts of bribery and attempted extortion and was sentenced to 16 months in prison on October 10, 2023.

Sittenfeld began his federal prison sentence on January 2, 2024 at FCI Ashland. On May 15, 2024, Sittenfeld was released from prison pending the outcome of his appeal, which was upheld in February 2025. On May 29, 2025, Sittenfeld received a "full and unconditional" pardon from President Donald Trump.