Hudson County Facts

United States v. Local 560 of International Brotherhood of Teamsters
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

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This appeal culminates a lengthy and complex civil action brought pursuant to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (“RICO”) Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961, et seq., by the United States against several defendants who allegedly acquired an interest in, and effectively dominated, Local 560 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (“Local 560″). The district court, concluding that Local 560 was a “captive labor organization,” enjoined certain defendants from any future contacts with Local 560, and removed the current members of the Local 560 Executive Board, replacing the Executive Board with a temporary trusteeship until free elections could be held.
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The government alleged that five of the named defendants: Anthony Provenzano, Nunzio Provenzano, Steven Andretta, Thomas Andretta and Gabriel Briguglio, were members of an ongoing criminal confederation – the Provenzano Group*fn1 – which, through acts of exortion and murder, effectively acquired an interest in, and control of, Local 560, an enterprise within the meaning of RICO, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(b).*fn2 The government also charged these defendants, as the Provenzano Group, with unlawfully participating, directly and indirectly, in the conduct of Local 560′s affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c)*fn3 and with conspiring to violate the above two provisions of RICO (§§ 1962(b) and (c)) in contravention of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d).*fn4

Finally, the government charged the remaining seven individual defendants: Salvatore Provenzano, Joseph Sheridan, Josephine Provenzano, J.W. Dildine, Thomas Reynolds, Michael Sciarra, and Stanley Jaronko, who, at the time the suit was brought, constituted the Executive Board of Local 560, with aiding and abetting the Provenzano Group in violating 18 U.S.C. § 1962(b) and (d).*fn5
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(1) Dorn: Between approximately January 1, 1952 and June 1, 1959, Anthony Provenzano (leader of the Provenzano Group), while an official of Local 560, extorted payoffs from Walter Dorn and his company, Dorn Transport, Inc., in exchange for “labor peace.” Anthony Provenzano was subsequently convicted on one count of Hobbs Act extortion under 18 U.S.C. § 1957 for his part in the Dorn labor peace payoffs. App. at 24, 69.

(2) Castellitto: In 1961, Anthony Provenzano recruited Harold Konigsberg and Salvatore Briguglio to kill Anthony Castellitto, who was a popular member of Local 560 and who posed a threat to Anthony Provenzano’s control of the union. On June 6, 1961 Konigsberg, Briguglio, Salvatore Sinno, and others, committed the murder. Salvatore Briguglio was killed while under indictment for the Castellitto murder, and on June 21, 1978, Anthony Provenzano was sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in the murder of Castellitto, App. at 24-25, 30, 70-71.

(3) Braun: Between November 30, 1961 and December 12, 1961, Nunzio Provenzano and Salvatore Briguglio attempted to extort labor peace payments (the Braun Payoff Demand case) from the Braun Company in violation of New York Penal Law § 560 and § 1294 (Conspiracy and attempted grand larceny). Nuncio Provenzano and Salvatore Briguglio were convicted and incarcerated for approximately 2-1/2 years in New York. App. at 25-26, 29, 69.

(4) Seatrain: Between December of 1969 and June of 1977, Anthony Provenzano, Stephen Andretta, Thomas Andretta, and Gabriel Briguglio unlawfully received “labor peace” payoffs from Interocean Services, Inc. and Di-Jub Leasing Inc. (Seatrain Labor Peace Payoffs) in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 186(b). Anthony Provenzano and Thomas Andretta each received 20 years imprisonment for their part in the Seatrain payoffs, and Stephen Andretta and Gabriel Briguglio received 10 and 7 years imprisonment, respectively. App. at 22-23, 25, 28, 77.

(5) Romano: Between 1974 and 1977, Anthony Provenzano, aided and abetted by Salvatore Briguglio and Stephen Andretta, received kickbacks in connection with loans made by the union’s Passaic and Bergen Funds to Thomas and Frank Romano in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1954. App. at

(6) City-Man: Between January of 1971 and July of 1980, Nunzio Provenzano, Irving Cotler, and other individuals unlawfully received labor peace payoffs (the City-Man payoffs) from Pacific Intermountain Express Company, Mason and Dixon Lines, Inc. T.I.M.E. – DC, Inc., and Helms Express in violation of 28 U.S.C. § 186(b). On May 5, 1981, Nunzio Provenzano was convicted on RICO charges stemming from these City-Man labor peace payoffs and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. App. at 26, 82-83.
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Read the Federal court’s decision.