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Court opinion

1984-02-08

CourtListener (Free Law Project), text of the opinion

United 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.

Date: 1984-02-08
Kind: court-opinion
Source: CourtListener (Free Law Project), text of the opinion
Retrieved: 2026-10-12
Docket: Civ. A. 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 Action No. 82-689, Judge Ackerman, opinion of February 8, 1984 as later amended. The opinion is very long; this page draws on its introduction, its summary of the complaint and selected findings.

The court found: “Local 560 has been, since 1961, and continues to be a captive labor organization, which the Provenzano Group has dominated through fear and intimidation and has exploited through fraud and corruption.” The acts it recounts include the June 1961 murder of Anthony Castellitto, the May 24, 1963 murder in Hudson County of Walter Glockner, who “had been a vocal critic and opponent of the Provenzano brothers,” the Dorn Transportation extortion, and payments from union funds. It ordered a trustee to replace the Executive Board until free elections and enjoined named individuals.

On the Genovese family the court wrote: “Anthony Provenzano, Nunzio Provenzano, and Salvatore Briguglio have long been publicly reputed to be members of the ‘Genovese Crime Family.’” That sentence reports reputation, which the court treated as bearing on the members’ state of mind. The Third Circuit affirmed in 1985 (780 F.2d 267), and the district court restated the findings in 1988 (694 F. Supp. 1158).

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, 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."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."