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Court opinion

1982-11-01

CourtListener (Free Law Project), text of the opinion

United States v. Local 560, 550 F. Supp. 511 (D.N.J. 1982)

In the government's civil RICO suit alleging that Teamsters Local 560 had become a "captive labor organization" controlled by the "Provenzano Group," the district court denies the union's motion to dismiss, calling the question one "of first impression."

Date: 1982-11-01
Kind: court-opinion
Source: CourtListener (Free Law Project), text of the opinion
Retrieved: 2026-10-12
Docket: Civ. 82-689
Rights: Opinion of a United States court. Works of the federal judiciary are in the public domain in the United States. The text was read on CourtListener.

United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, Civil No. 82-689, opinion by Judge Harold A. Ackerman. “This civil action brought pursuant to the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) presents a question of first impression. The United States charges that Local 560 … together with its Welfare and Pension Funds … and its Severance Pay Plan … is a ‘captive labor organization.’”

The complaint, as the court summarizes it, alleges that a “Provenzano Group” created a climate of intimidation through a list of acts, among them “the June 1961 murder of Anthony Castellitto,” appointments of convicted men to union posts, and “the May 1963 murder of Walter Glockner,” and that the members thereby surrendered their union rights. The union moved under Rule 12(b)(6) to dismiss paragraph 12(a), which pleads murder and Hobbs Act extortion of members’ rights as the pattern of racketeering. “For all of these reasons, defendant’s motion to dismiss paragraph 12(a) is denied.”

Everything described here is an allegation in a complaint at the pleading stage. The court’s findings after trial are in 581 F. Supp. 279.

itemUnited States v. Provenzano, 334 F.2d 678 (3d Cir. 1964)The Third Circuit affirmed Anthony Provenzano's Hobbs Act conviction. He was indicted in 1960, as an officer of Teamsters Local 560, for extorting $17,100 from Dorn's Transportation Company between 1952 and 1959.itemUnited States v. Provenzano, 620 F.2d 985 (3d Cir. 1980)The Third Circuit affirmed the RICO and RICO-conspiracy convictions of Anthony Provenzano, Thomas Andretta and Stephen Andretta in a scheme to extort "labor peace" payments from Interocean Services, an in-house trucker for Seatrain Lines.itemUnited States v. Local 560, 581 F. Supp. 279 (D.N.J. 1984)After a civil RICO trial, the district court finds that Teamsters Local 560 has been since 1961 "a captive labor organization" dominated by the "Provenzano Group" through fear and intimidation, and orders a trusteeship and injunctions.itemUnited States v. Local 560, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 780 F.2d 267 (3d Cir. 1985)The Third Circuit affirmed the civil RICO judgment that found Teamsters Local 560 a "captive labor organization," removed its executive board and imposed a trusteeship until free elections could be held.itemUnited States v. Local 560 (I.B.T.), 694 F. Supp. 1158 (D.N.J. 1988)On the court-appointed trustee's application, the district court bars two former Local 560 officers from union affairs. It restates the 1984 findings that the Provenzano Group was organized in the late 1940s as part of the Genovese family and that Anthony Provenzano "was a made-member" of it.itemUnited States v. Local 560 (Sciarra), 974 F.2d 315 (3d Cir. 1992)The Third Circuit affirms a permanent injunction barring Michael Sciarra, a former Local 560 president, from union office and influence, on findings that he remained under the influence of the Genovese organized crime family.

itemTestimony of Anthony Provenzano, July 6, 1959 (McClellan Committee, Part 55, pp. 19264–19268)Anthony Provenzano, with counsel, answers nearly every question from the McClellan Committee, including whether he was president of Teamsters Local 560 and whether he took money from Pitman and Dorn, with "I respectfully decline to answer because I honestly believe my answer might tend to incriminate me."itemOrganized Crime Control Act of 1970, Title IX: Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (18 U.S.C. 1961-1968), 84 Stat. 941-948Title IX of the 1970 Act, the RICO statute: it made it unlawful to conduct an enterprise's affairs through a "pattern of racketeering activity", defined the predicate offenses, and provided prison terms, fines and forfeiture. Section 904 directs that it "be liberally construed to effectuate its remedial purposes."