Post by Elle on Feb 2, 2006 20:15:48 GMT -5
Laborers Local 210 was known for decades as the power base of the Buffalo Mafia.
Mobsters dominated the local, handing out no-show jobs to friends and associates, federal agents had long said. At the fortress-like union hall on Franklin Street, plum jobs were doled out to mob members and relatives. When one union member started giving information to the FBI, he was gunned down in broad daylight by a team of assassins at a Main Street construction site.
One man who served as a consultant to a mob-tied dental clinic that provided services to Local 210 was found murdered in the trunk of a car. Police never found out why.
"For at least the past 25 years, the Buffalo La Cosa Nostra has exercised considerable influence, if not complete control, over the affairs of Local 210," an attorney for the international laborers union declared in late 1995.
Fast-forward to this week. According to the U.S. Justice Department, mob domination at Local 210 is a thing of the past. A 10-year, government-enforced cleanup of Local 210 ends today with the retirement of John J. "Jack" McDonnell as the union's court-appointed liaison officer.
McDonnell, a former FBI special agent, gave the union a clean bill of health in a recent report to U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara. He said he believes the current leaders of the local are ready to run the operation themselves, with no government supervision.
"When I came here on Jan. 24, 2000, I came with the impression that there was widespread corruption - that every member either was in the mob or supported the mob," McDonnell, 56, said in an interview.
"What I learned was that a handful of corrupt people had been running 210. The vast majority of members were good, decent people who just wanted to work, but were afraid to speak up about the bad things that were going on."
The former FBI agent gives accolades to the local's current leadership, which includes William Hoffman, business manager; Harley Locking, president and assistant business manager; Dominic Calandra, vice president; Joseph Biondo, secretary/treasurer; and Richard Bugman, recording secretary.
Acting U.S. Attorney Kathleen M. Mehltretter said she believes McDonnell's account of the cleanup is legitimate. She said prosecutors and federal agents no longer hear allegations that Local 210 is run by intimidating mob members.
"I think the membership there really has something to be proud of," said Mehltretter, a federal prosecutor since 1978. "There are a small number of members who still want them to return to the old ways, and they'll have to guard against that. But they revamped their election process, and we hear much better things about the management than we used to hear."
Members forced out
After decades of sputtering investigations, the Justice Department stepped up its attack on mob involvement in Local 210 in 1995. That year, the government threatened to file a massive racketeering lawsuit against the Buffalo local.
The government's threat forced the laborers national union - Laborers International Union of North America - to take control of the local.
Subsequent hearings led to the removal of a number of union members whom the FBI claimed had links to organized crime. The group included Joseph Todaro Jr., whom the FBI identified as the region's organized crime leader; Leonard Falzone, later convicted of loansharking; and Frank BiFulco, who is serving a federal prison term for setting fire to a car.
According to McDonnell's report to Arcara, 32 members were forced out of the local to help eliminate "direct control by traditional organized crime." Critics complained that some members were unfairly targeted, solely because they were Italian-American, a claim denied by the government and the international.
Under an agreement reached in 1999, McDonnell - who had watched, followed and arrested Local 210 members during his FBI career - was appointed as the union's overseer.
Speaking this week at the union's current offices in Cheektowaga, McDonnell said he was not appointed to run the union, and never tried to run it. Hoffman, Locking and other union officials agreed with him.
"Jack did not come in here with a heavy hand," Biondo said. "He came in here as a teacher, and he's leaving as a friend."
Both sides agreed that it was a tense, uncomfortable situation when the former FBI man began working at Local 210 six years ago.
Tense situation
Although the old leadership had been forced out years earlier, McDonnell still figured the union was dominated by thugs. And many union members - even the law-abiding ones - disliked the FBI. Many felt the feds had targeted the local for a witch hunt.
Locking recalls the first time McDonnell walked into the old union hall on Franklin Street, which has since been sold by the union.
McDonnell looked around and said, " "Hey, I've never been in this place in the daytime!' "
The remark broke the ice. Union leaders knew McDonnell was joking about times when the FBI had sneaked into the union hall at night to plant listening devices.
"I was picturing Jack standing up on a table with a flashlight, taking out the ceiling tiles," Locking said.
Over the years, McDonnell's role has been to closely monitor the operations of the union, and to steer its leaders in a different direction when he thought they were doing something that could get them into trouble.
"Jack is very big on documentation and checks and balances," Locking said. "He's helped us to draft reports on everything we do . . . He taught me how to use Roberts Rules of Order at meetings, which wasn't easy."
McDonnell's paychecks - the local paid him $100 an hour, for anywhere from 10 to 60 hours a week - caused some resentment. But Hoffman said the amount paid was "dirt cheap" considering McDonnell's efforts to bring credibility to Local 210.
Hoffman said McDonnell helped the union work out "fair and equitable" methods for running elections and giving work assignments to 780 active union members. Before the government crackdown, union leaders said, choice job assignments often were given to members with mob ties.
"Jack has watched us closely, but he's let us run things," Hoffman said. "We've promised we're not going to give him or the government any reason to come back here in the future."
Former U.S. Attorney Denise E. O'Donnell, veteran mob prosecutor Charles B. Wydysh and former union attorney John M. Curran, now a state judge, were among those who took part in the case that led to McDonnell's appointment as union overseer.
Criticism of government
Not everyone is happy with the way Local 210 has changed. A small but vocal group of critics in the union still feels the government crackdown was unfair.
"There are some who feel that 210 is not being run properly," said a Buffalo attorney who has had dealings with the union. "The government, in trying to create a situation to correct things, has in itself become an intimidating force. People are afraid to speak out against those who are running things."
The lawyer spoke on the condition that his name would not be published. He said he believed the union would refuse to do business with him if he spoke publicly.
But James V. Logan, a 32-year construction veteran who is executive vice president of the Construction Industry Employers Association, said he feels Local 210 has improved dramatically since the crackdown. The association represents 60 companies, many of which have extensive dealings with Local 210.
"Today, their reputation is good. Fifteen years ago, it was poor," Logan said of Local 210. "They're really out there trying to work with contractors. From what I can see, it's been a complete change. You no longer have people from 210 claiming to be associated with the mob. I feel their image has improved, not only in the industry, but with the public."
The government is still involved in a different kind of crackdown aimed at Local 210's brother union, Local 91 in Niagara Falls.
The Local 91 crackdown began in 2002, with 14 union officials being indicted in connection with vandalism and intimidation incidents in Niagara County. A trustee appointed by the international union ran the Niagara Falls local until July 2004.
Most of the defendants in the criminal case have taken guilty pleas. Four defendants, including former president Mark S. Congi, face trial on labor racketeering charges in June.
McDonnell said he is gratified by his experience with Local 210 and considers it a success. While retiring from his job there, he hopes to work locally in the security field.
"I think the members feel like they're able to make the decisions on who is going to run their union," he said. "I think they're savvy enough to keep mob influences out."
[glow=red,2,300]My Opinion:
Face it people, it's not easy to destroy a long running operation like the one in Buffalo with the plans that are underway at the moment. [/glow]
Mobsters dominated the local, handing out no-show jobs to friends and associates, federal agents had long said. At the fortress-like union hall on Franklin Street, plum jobs were doled out to mob members and relatives. When one union member started giving information to the FBI, he was gunned down in broad daylight by a team of assassins at a Main Street construction site.
One man who served as a consultant to a mob-tied dental clinic that provided services to Local 210 was found murdered in the trunk of a car. Police never found out why.
"For at least the past 25 years, the Buffalo La Cosa Nostra has exercised considerable influence, if not complete control, over the affairs of Local 210," an attorney for the international laborers union declared in late 1995.
Fast-forward to this week. According to the U.S. Justice Department, mob domination at Local 210 is a thing of the past. A 10-year, government-enforced cleanup of Local 210 ends today with the retirement of John J. "Jack" McDonnell as the union's court-appointed liaison officer.
McDonnell, a former FBI special agent, gave the union a clean bill of health in a recent report to U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara. He said he believes the current leaders of the local are ready to run the operation themselves, with no government supervision.
"When I came here on Jan. 24, 2000, I came with the impression that there was widespread corruption - that every member either was in the mob or supported the mob," McDonnell, 56, said in an interview.
"What I learned was that a handful of corrupt people had been running 210. The vast majority of members were good, decent people who just wanted to work, but were afraid to speak up about the bad things that were going on."
The former FBI agent gives accolades to the local's current leadership, which includes William Hoffman, business manager; Harley Locking, president and assistant business manager; Dominic Calandra, vice president; Joseph Biondo, secretary/treasurer; and Richard Bugman, recording secretary.
Acting U.S. Attorney Kathleen M. Mehltretter said she believes McDonnell's account of the cleanup is legitimate. She said prosecutors and federal agents no longer hear allegations that Local 210 is run by intimidating mob members.
"I think the membership there really has something to be proud of," said Mehltretter, a federal prosecutor since 1978. "There are a small number of members who still want them to return to the old ways, and they'll have to guard against that. But they revamped their election process, and we hear much better things about the management than we used to hear."
Members forced out
After decades of sputtering investigations, the Justice Department stepped up its attack on mob involvement in Local 210 in 1995. That year, the government threatened to file a massive racketeering lawsuit against the Buffalo local.
The government's threat forced the laborers national union - Laborers International Union of North America - to take control of the local.
Subsequent hearings led to the removal of a number of union members whom the FBI claimed had links to organized crime. The group included Joseph Todaro Jr., whom the FBI identified as the region's organized crime leader; Leonard Falzone, later convicted of loansharking; and Frank BiFulco, who is serving a federal prison term for setting fire to a car.
According to McDonnell's report to Arcara, 32 members were forced out of the local to help eliminate "direct control by traditional organized crime." Critics complained that some members were unfairly targeted, solely because they were Italian-American, a claim denied by the government and the international.
Under an agreement reached in 1999, McDonnell - who had watched, followed and arrested Local 210 members during his FBI career - was appointed as the union's overseer.
Speaking this week at the union's current offices in Cheektowaga, McDonnell said he was not appointed to run the union, and never tried to run it. Hoffman, Locking and other union officials agreed with him.
"Jack did not come in here with a heavy hand," Biondo said. "He came in here as a teacher, and he's leaving as a friend."
Both sides agreed that it was a tense, uncomfortable situation when the former FBI man began working at Local 210 six years ago.
Tense situation
Although the old leadership had been forced out years earlier, McDonnell still figured the union was dominated by thugs. And many union members - even the law-abiding ones - disliked the FBI. Many felt the feds had targeted the local for a witch hunt.
Locking recalls the first time McDonnell walked into the old union hall on Franklin Street, which has since been sold by the union.
McDonnell looked around and said, " "Hey, I've never been in this place in the daytime!' "
The remark broke the ice. Union leaders knew McDonnell was joking about times when the FBI had sneaked into the union hall at night to plant listening devices.
"I was picturing Jack standing up on a table with a flashlight, taking out the ceiling tiles," Locking said.
Over the years, McDonnell's role has been to closely monitor the operations of the union, and to steer its leaders in a different direction when he thought they were doing something that could get them into trouble.
"Jack is very big on documentation and checks and balances," Locking said. "He's helped us to draft reports on everything we do . . . He taught me how to use Roberts Rules of Order at meetings, which wasn't easy."
McDonnell's paychecks - the local paid him $100 an hour, for anywhere from 10 to 60 hours a week - caused some resentment. But Hoffman said the amount paid was "dirt cheap" considering McDonnell's efforts to bring credibility to Local 210.
Hoffman said McDonnell helped the union work out "fair and equitable" methods for running elections and giving work assignments to 780 active union members. Before the government crackdown, union leaders said, choice job assignments often were given to members with mob ties.
"Jack has watched us closely, but he's let us run things," Hoffman said. "We've promised we're not going to give him or the government any reason to come back here in the future."
Former U.S. Attorney Denise E. O'Donnell, veteran mob prosecutor Charles B. Wydysh and former union attorney John M. Curran, now a state judge, were among those who took part in the case that led to McDonnell's appointment as union overseer.
Criticism of government
Not everyone is happy with the way Local 210 has changed. A small but vocal group of critics in the union still feels the government crackdown was unfair.
"There are some who feel that 210 is not being run properly," said a Buffalo attorney who has had dealings with the union. "The government, in trying to create a situation to correct things, has in itself become an intimidating force. People are afraid to speak out against those who are running things."
The lawyer spoke on the condition that his name would not be published. He said he believed the union would refuse to do business with him if he spoke publicly.
But James V. Logan, a 32-year construction veteran who is executive vice president of the Construction Industry Employers Association, said he feels Local 210 has improved dramatically since the crackdown. The association represents 60 companies, many of which have extensive dealings with Local 210.
"Today, their reputation is good. Fifteen years ago, it was poor," Logan said of Local 210. "They're really out there trying to work with contractors. From what I can see, it's been a complete change. You no longer have people from 210 claiming to be associated with the mob. I feel their image has improved, not only in the industry, but with the public."
The government is still involved in a different kind of crackdown aimed at Local 210's brother union, Local 91 in Niagara Falls.
The Local 91 crackdown began in 2002, with 14 union officials being indicted in connection with vandalism and intimidation incidents in Niagara County. A trustee appointed by the international union ran the Niagara Falls local until July 2004.
Most of the defendants in the criminal case have taken guilty pleas. Four defendants, including former president Mark S. Congi, face trial on labor racketeering charges in June.
McDonnell said he is gratified by his experience with Local 210 and considers it a success. While retiring from his job there, he hopes to work locally in the security field.
"I think the members feel like they're able to make the decisions on who is going to run their union," he said. "I think they're savvy enough to keep mob influences out."
[glow=red,2,300]My Opinion:
Face it people, it's not easy to destroy a long running operation like the one in Buffalo with the plans that are underway at the moment. [/glow]
