MIAMI — Former New York City Councilman Dan Halloran, who previously served five years in federal prison for a $200,000 bribery scheme to rig a mayoral election, has been arrested and charged with possession of child sexual abuse material, according to authorities.
Halloran, 54, was apprehended at Miami International Airport on Saturday during a layover from Cuba. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers inspected his iPhone and discovered 1,362 videos of child sexual abuse, including approximately 35 videos of “prepubescent” girls being victimized, according to a federal criminal complaint filed in the Southern District of Florida.
Customs officers are authorized to search electronic devices at ports of entry without probable cause or a warrant under the “border search exception.”
South Florida mugshot (left) and New York City Council photo (right) of Dan Halloran (Broward Sherriff’s Office/NYC Council)
Halloran admitted to “knowingly” possessing the illegal content, telling authorities that about “two-thirds to three-quarters” of the videos in his hidden album depicted child sexual abuse. Investigators determined he had been purchasing the material through the messaging app Telegram.
The former councilman, who now works as a dive instructor and resides in Floral Park, New York, was returning to the U.S. after a diving trip at Jardines de la Reina National Park near Camagüey, Cuba.
Following his arrest, Halloran was initially booked into the Broward County Main Jail before being transferred to the Federal Detention Center in Miami. He faces two federal child pornography charges.
Halloran served on the New York City Council from 2010 to 2013 and unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2012.
He previously served a federal prison sentence for his involvement in a bribery scheme intended to manipulate the 2013 New York City mayoral election.
In 2013, he was arrested alongside then-state Senator Malcolm Smith and accused of accepting $20,500 in bribes as part of a plan to secure Smith, a Democrat, a spot on the Republican ballot for mayor.
His lawyer made a last-minute attempt to assert an insanity defense for him, but the effort was unsuccessful.
He was convicted of bribery and conspiracy in 2014, sentenced in 2015, and released halfway through a 10-year federal prison term amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He now once again bears the federal inmate register number 68384-054.
Halloran’s arrest drew attention within the Pagan community because he was one of the highest elected officials in the United States to openly identify as a Pagan or Heathen.
Halloran was a prominent and controversial member of the Théodish belief system. Théodish Belief (often called Théodism) is a modern Pagan religious movement that seeks to revive and reconstruct the pre-Christian, polytheistic, and tribal religions of the Germanic peoples, particularly those of Anglo-Saxon and Norse cultures. It is a subset of the broader Heathen movement, but it emphasizes hierarchical social structures, specifically treating the organizational head of a group as a sacred king with authority over the other members. (Halloran was such a leader, or “First Ætheling,” of his own group, New Normandy.) Théodism’s monarchical structure has made it attractive to some Heathen practitioners on the far right.
Dan Halloran’s involvement with Théodism became a significant and controversial aspect of his political career, particularly during his time as a member of the New York City Council from 2010 to 2013. His association with Théodism was sensationalized by the media, often with misleading or inflammatory framing.
Dan Halloran leading a Théodish ritual in the early 2000s [Courtesy]
During his 2009 New York City Council campaign, his faith became a sensationalized point of controversy after the local press “outed” him, with outlets like The Village Voice depicting him in ceremonial garb with a sacrificed goat—imagery meant to scandalize rather than inform.
Halloran’s initial response was to downplay his Heathen beliefs and emphasize his Catholic heritage, a move that frustrated many of his co-religionists. During that time, he issued a statement framing the scrutiny of his faith as a political attack:
“I am a man of faith—and now my faith is under attack by a newspaper working for my opponent. I call on my opponent to disavow the Queens Tribune’s attack on religion. I am running a campaign on the issues.”
Despite his claims of religious privacy, Halloran continued to distance himself from Théodism during his political career. In a 2010 interview with the Pagan Newswire Collective, he insisted his beliefs were irrelevant to his work:
“My religious faith is not only irrelevant to my public policy… but also a source of great personal strength for me which only inures to the benefit of my Community. I do occasionally hear that being a ‘Druid’ explains why I am such an eco-conscious Republican.”
Critics continued to use his Pagan faith as criticism, often in mockery. Despite this, Halloran achieved notable political milestones as a Pagan and conservative Republican in New York City. His success was seen as demonstrating that being a Pagan was not an insurmountable barrier to political office.
Unfortunately for the Pagan community, whatever legacy Halloran’s political successes could have meant for the rest of us will be forever overshadowed by a record of scandal, corruption, and now, the sexual abuse of innocent children.
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