Isadore H. Bellis

Isadore H. Bellis in 1964

Isadore Harry Bellis (born Izsak Belostotsky; March 15, 1920 – May 29, 2003) was a Democratic politician in Philadelphia. Known in his youth as a tennis star, he later became a successful lawyer and entered politics. He was elected to the Philadelphia City Council in 1963 and served there for three terms, rising to become majority leader in 1972.

In Bellis’s third term, allegations of corruption led to two convictions for bribery and malfeasance in office. He was defeated for a fourth term and retired to Florida, where he continued to appeal his convictions, never actually serving a day of his two-to-seven-year sentence. In 1984, the Pennsylvania Superior Court ordered that he be given a new trial, but the charges were dropped the following year as a main witness against him had died. Bellis died in Florida in 2003.