Indictments

Office of Labor-Management Enforcement

The Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) conducts both civil and criminal investigations of alleged violations of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) and related laws.

These investigations by OLMS District Offices involve issues such as embezzlements of union funds, union officer elections, the filing of required reports by unions and others with OLMS, and the imposition of trusteeships over subordinate unions by a parent body. These investigations may result in legal enforcement actions.

Date	Description
February 21st, 2019	On February 21, 2019, in the United States District Court for the SouthernDistrict of New York, John Ulrich, former Vice President and Recording Secretary of Teamsters Local 812 (a union representing beverage industry workers located in Great Neck, N.Y.), was charged with offenses related to alleged bribes from a third party administrator (TPA) given in exchange for UlrichÄôs use of his influence with the union and its health fund. The indictment charged Ulrich with soliciting and receiving bribe payments to influence the operation of an employee benefit plan (18 U.S.C. 1954 and 2), conspiracy to solicit and receive bribe payments to influence the operation of an employee benefit plan (18 U.S.C. 371), honest services health care fraud (18 U.S.C. 1347, 1346 and 2), and conspiracy to commit honest services health care fraud (18 U.S.C. 1349). The indictment follows a joint investigation by the OLMS New York District Office, the Department of LaborÄôs Office of Inspector General, the Employee Benefits Security Administration, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
September 21st, 2017	On September 21, 2017, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, John T. Coli, Sr., former Secretary Treasurer of Teamsters Local 727 (located in Park Ridge, Ill.), was indicted for knowingly attempting to obstruct, delay and affect commerce by extortion, that is obtaining of property of quarterly cash payments of $25,000 from an employer (18 U.S.C. 1951(a)); willfully requesting, demanding, receiving and accepting a thing of value and a sum of money from an employer, namely, payments totaling approximately $325,000 on several occasions between 2014 and 2017 (29 U.S.C. 186(b)(1) & 186(d)(2)); knowingly and willfully making materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statements and representations of matter in his U.S. Department of Labor Äì OLMS Form LM-30, for fiscal years 2014, 2015, and 2016 when he failed to disclose approximately $100,000 in employer payments received during each fiscal year (18 U.S.C. 1001(a)(2)); and willfully making and subscribing, and causing to be made and subscribed, false U.S. Individual Income Tax Returns, for calendar years 2014, 2015 and 2016, in which reported income was substantially lower than actual income received (26 U.S.C. 7206(1)). Coli was previously indicted on July 12, 2017. The superseding indictment follows an investigation by the OLMS Chicago District Office, the Department of LaborÄôs Office of Inspector General, and the FBI.
June 20th, 2017	On June 20, 2017, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, Scott Alexander and Nancy Alexander, former President and former office administrator, respectively, for Teamsters Local 50 (located in Belleville, Ill.), were indicted for embezzlement and wire fraud, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 501(c) and 18 U.S.C. 1343. The charges follow an investigation by the OLMS Denver-St. Louis District Office.
August 3rd, 2016	On August 3, 2016, in the United States District Court for Middle District of Florida, Robert J. Tuttle, Jr., former President of International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 173 (located in Bradenton, Fla.), was sentenced to three years of probation and was ordered to pay $2,621 in restitution and a $25 special assessment. On April 6, 2016, Tuttle pled guilty to making false entries in financial records, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 439(c). The indictment follows an investigation by the OLMS Atlanta-Nashville District Office.
December 8th, 2015	On December 8, 2015, in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Robert J. Tuttle, Jr., former President of International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 173 (located in Bradenton, Fla.), was indicted for four counts of embezzling approximately $4,857 in union funds, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 501(c), and one count of false records, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 439(c). The indictment follows an investigation by the OLMS Atlanta-Nashville District Office.
July 11th, 2013	On July 11, 2013, in the Circuit Court’s First Municipal District of Cook County, Illinois, Anna Ippolito, former bookkeeper for Teamsters Local 734 (located in Chicago, Ill.), was sentenced to three years of probation after pleading guilty to one count of theft and one count of forgery. On May 9, 2013, Ippolito was indicted on three counts of forgery and one count of theft totaling more than $10,000 and less than $100,000. The sentencing follows an investigation by the OLMS Chicago District Office and the Chicago Police Department.
May 9th, 2013	On May 9, 2013, in the Circuit Court’s First Municipal District of Cook County, Illinois, Anna Ippolito, former bookkeeper for Teamsters Local 734 (located in Chicago, Ill.), was indicted on three counts of forgery and one count of theft totaling more than $10,000 and less than $100,000. The indictment follows an investigation by the OLMS Chicago District Office and the Chicago Police Department.
September 19th, 2012	On September 19, 2012, in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, four former members of Teamsters Local 82 (a merged union previously located in South Boston, Mass.), former Secretary-Treasurer John Perry, and members James “Jimmy the Bull” Deamicis, Joseph “Jo Jo” Burhoe, and Thomas Flaherty, were charged in a 30-count indictment including charges of RICO, Hobbs Act Extortion, Prohibition Against Persons from Holding Office, Mail Fraud, Aiding and Abetting, and other federal forfeiture charges. The charges follow an investigation by the OLMS Boston District Office, Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General, the Employee Benefits Security Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Boston Police Department.
August 28th, 2012	On August 28, 2012, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Ryan Forbes, former Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 1129 (located in Cartersville, Ga.), was indicted on one count of embezzling union funds, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 501(c). On the same day, Forbes pled guilty to the charge. The charge and guilty plea follow an investigation by the OLMS Atlanta District Office and the Tampa Resident Investigator Office.
April 24th, 2012	On April 24, 2012, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, an indictment was returned charging Salvador Camey, former employee of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (located in Washington, D.C.), with 16 counts of embezzlement from a labor organization totaling $7,258.92, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 501(c). The charges follow an investigation by the OLMS Washington District Office and the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General in Los Angeles, Calif.
June 21st, 2011	On June 21, 2011, in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada, Mark Winfield Tracy, former Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 533 (located in Reno, Nev.), was sentenced to two years in prison, three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and restitution of $87,119. On December 6, 2010, Tracy pled guilty to one count of embezzling union funds. On March 3, 2010, Tracy was indicted on one count of embezzling $125,000 in union funds, one count of filing false Form LM-2 reports, one count of falsifying union records, and one count of willfully concealing and/or destroying union records. The sentencing follows an investigation by the OLMS San Francisco District Office.
December 6th, 2010	On December 6, 2010, in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada, Mark Winfield Tracy, former Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 533 (located in Reno, Nev.), pled guilty to one count of embezzling union funds. On March 3, 2010, Tracy was indicted on one count of embezzling $125,000 in union funds, one count of filing false Form LM-2 reports, one count of falsifying union records, and one count of willfully concealing and/or destroying union records. Sentencing is scheduled for March 7, 2011. The plea follows an investigation by the OLMS San Francisco District Office.
April 12th, 2010	On April 12, 2010, in the Clinton County (Ohio) Court of Common Pleas, Daniel Graves, former President of Teamsters Local 1224 (located in Wilmington, Ohio), was indicted on one count of theft in the amount of $2,867.42. The charges follow an investigation by the OLMS Cincinnati District Office.
October 2nd, 2009	On October 2, 2009, in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada, Monica Peaslee, former office manager of Teamsters Local 533 (located in Reno, Nev.), pled guilty to one count of embezzling union funds in the amount of $13,156. On July 22, 2009, Peaslee was indicted on one count of embezzling union funds in the same amount and one count of falsifying union records. The plea follows an investigation by the OLMS San Francisco District Office.
July 22nd, 2009	On July 22, 2009, in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada, Monica Peaslee, former Office Manager of Teamsters Local 533 (located in Reno, Nev.), was indicted on one count of embezzling union funds in the amount of $13,156 and one count of falsifying union records. The indictment follows an investigation by the OLMS San Francisco District Office.
March 6th, 2008	On March 6, 2008, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Robert Walston and Thaddeus Bania, former President and Comptroller, respectively, of Teamsters Local 743 were indicted as part of a 14-count superseding criminal complaint alleging conspiracy, mail fraud, theft of honest services, and embezzlement of union funds arising from multiple schemes involving the local’s voided October 2004 regular election of officers and a rerun election that was held in December 2004. This indictment supersedes the indictment issued by the grand jury on September 6, 2007 and includes three original defendants who were either officers, agents, or employees of Local 743: Richard Lopez, who was an incumbent candidate for Recording Secretary in 2004 and who also briefly held the position of president after Walston; Cassandra Mosley, a former business agent who resigned in December 2006; and David Rodriguez a former organizer who resigned in July 2007. The superseding information includes a forfeiture allegation of over $2 million dollars in salary, expenses, and benefits. A superseding misdemeanor information was also filed against Mark Jones, a former business agent and director of organizing for the local, involving allegations of opening mail not directed to him relating to the voided mail-ballot election in October 2004. The indictments follow an investigation by the OLMS Chicago District Office, the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General, and the United States Postal Inspection Service.
December 17th, 2007	On December 17, 2007 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Anthony Rumore, former President of Teamsters Local 812 and Joint Council 16 was indicted on charges of extortion and embezzlement. Rumore demanded and obtained services from Local 812's employees, union officers, business agents, and staff, for the personal benefit of himself and his family. These personal services were unrelated to any union business and interfered with the employees' ability to perform legitimate work on behalf of Local 812's members. Local 812's employees complied with Rumore's demands due to fear that Rumore would cause them economic harm, including the loss of their employment with Local 812.
October 18th, 2007	On October 18, 2007, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Heather Lott, former bookkeeper of Teamsters Local 19, was indicted on one count of embezzling union funds in the amount of $140,000. The charge follows an investigation by the OLMS New Orleans District Office.
February 21st, 2006	On February 21, 2006, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, Janice Patterson, former Bookkeeper/Office Secretary for Teamsters Local 984, was indicted on one count of embezzling union funds totaling $3,234 and one count of making false entries in union records. The indictment follows an investigation by the OLMS Nashville District Office.
February 6th, 2006	On February 6, 2006, in the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, Anthony Rutledge, former Financial Secretary-Treasurer for Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees (HERE), Local 5, and former President of Unity House, a non-profit labor organization that provides benefits to about 20,000 members and retirees of HERE Local 5 and Teamsters Local 996, entered into a plea agreement in which Rutledge pled guilty to one count of knowingly falsifying a tax return and was sentenced to three years probation. Under terms of the plea agreement, Rutledge must permanently disassociate himself from Unity House, which his father, Art Rutledge, founded in 1951. Rutledge's son, Aaron, pled guilty to one count of witness harassment and was sentenced to one year probation. Under terms of his plea agreement, Aaron Rutledge must resign immediately as Executive Vice President of Unity House and must disassociate himself from the organization and its assets while on probation. In August 2003, both Anthony and Aaron Rutledge were indicted for skimming $350,000 in earnings from the family's Waikiki Beach concession stand from 1992 to 1997 and using the money as a slush fund. A superseding indictment in December 2003 alleged that Anthony Rutledge had tried to divert a portion of Unity House's $42.2 million in assets to overseas investments in an apparent attempt to circumvent the ongoing criminal investigation. Twelve other fraud charges against him were dismissed as part of the agreement. The guilty pleas follow an investigation by the OLMS Honolulu Resident Investigator Office, the Internal Revenue Service, and DOL's Employee Benefits Security Administration and Office of the Inspector General.
June 17th, 2002	On June 17, 2002, in the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, Roberta Cabral, a former Unity House consultant, pled guilty to three felony charges of evading personal income taxes in 1992 and 1993 and wire fraud for attempting to defraud Unity House. She also pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of failing to file an individual federal income tax return for 1994. Unity House is a non-profit organization established to benefit members of Hotel and Restaurant Employees Local 5 and Hawaii Teamsters locals. The fraud involved a kickback scheme to defraud Unity House by inflating the costs of producing a television movie. Cabral had been indicted on May 4, 2000 on charges of wire fraud in the amount of $150,000 following a joint investigation by the OLMS Honolulu Resident Investigator Office and other federal law enforcement agencies.
March 28th, 2002	On March 28, 2002, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Jessie A. McGee, former business agent of Teamsters Local 891, pled guilty to making false entries in union records and was sentenced to two years probation. He had previously made restitution of $2,782 to the union. He had been indicted earlier on one count of embezzlement and one count of falsifying union records following an investigation by the OLMS New Orleans District Office.
November 6th, 2001	On November 6, 2001, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Jessie McGee, former business agent for Teamsters Local 891, was indicted on one count of embezzling $2,492 in union funds. The charges were brought following an investigation by the OLMS New Orleans District Office.