Mob FilesPublic-domain archive of American organized crime

Record

Court opinion

1989-03-06

CourtListener (Free Law Project), text of the opinion

United States v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 708 F. Supp. 1388 (S.D.N.Y. 1989)

Judge David N. Edelstein denied the union's motions to dismiss the Government's 1988 civil RICO complaint against the Teamsters, its General Executive Board, "the Commission of La Cosa Nostra" and 26 alleged members of La Cosa Nostra, and granted default judgments against some defendants.

Date
1989-03-06
Kind
court-opinion
Source
CourtListener (Free Law Project), text of the opinion
Retrieved
2026-10-12
Docket
88 Civ. 4486 (DNE) (S.D.N.Y.); 708 F. Supp. 1388
Rights
Opinion of a United States court. Works of the federal judiciary are in the public domain in the United States (17 U.S.C. § 105). The text was read on CourtListener (Free Law Project).

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, decided 6 March 1989, eight days before the parties’ Consent Decree of 14 March 1989.

The opinion describes the suit: “The complaint names as defendants the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (‘IBT’ or ‘Union’), its General Executive Board (‘GEB’ or ‘Board’), the individual members of the Board, the Commission of La Cosa Nostra (‘LCN’), and 26 alleged members of La Cosa Nostra.” The Government sought the ouster of the Board and a court liaison officer to oversee reforms in the union’s elections and discipline. Rudolph W. Giuliani was the United States Attorney.

Judge Edelstein denied the motions to dismiss and the union’s motions for joinder and transfer. Three individual defendants and “the Commission of La Cosa Nostra” had not answered or appeared, and the court gave the Government leave to enter default judgments against them. It denied the Government’s motion for summary judgment against five other defendants who had earlier criminal convictions. A footnote records that Salvatore and Nunzio Provenzano had entered consent judgments, and that “Anthony Provenzano has passed away since the filing of the complaint.” The complaint’s allegations about named persons are allegations, and a default judgment is not a finding after trial.

itemUnited States v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 725 F. Supp. 162 (S.D.N.Y. 1989): Application III of the Independent AdministratorOne of the first opinions implementing the 14 March 1989 Teamsters Consent Decree. The court upheld the court-appointed Independent Administrator's authority to hold disciplinary hearings on charges against two union officers.itemUnited States v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 941 F.2d 1292 (2d Cir. 1991): Senese and Talerico appealThe Second Circuit affirmed the orders upholding union disciplinary sanctions on Dominic Senese and Joseph Talerico, imposed "by reason of, among other things, their association with organized crime."itemManhattan U.S. Attorney announces a proposed settlement to replace the Teamsters Consent Decree (14 January 2015)Press release 15-010 of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York: a proposed agreement to replace the Teamsters Consent Decree, "in place since March 1989," keeping its injunction and election reforms and phasing out the Independent Review Board over five years.itemUnited States v. Salerno, 868 F.2d 524 (2d Cir. 1989)Second Circuit opinion on the appeal from the Southern District of New York trial of Anthony Salerno and seven other defendants, decided January 31, 1989.