Eventually Hoffa's many crimes caught up with him. In 1967, Hoffa was sentenced to 13 years in prison for jury tampering, attempted bribery, and fraud. However, just four years later, he was pardoned by President Nixon, but only if he agreed to resign as union president and not participate in union activities until 1980, which Hoffa agreed to do.
While he was away, Sheeran continued working for the union chief who replaced him, Frank Fitzsimmons, as well as for Bufalino. In 1972, the same year Hoffa was released from prison, Sheeran made one of his biggest hits yet on Colombo family mobster Joey "Crazy Joe" Gallo on Bufalino's order. Sheeran killed Gallo while he sat in a restaurant, and somehow, Sheeran managed to escape unscathed.