Mob FilesPublic-domain archive of American organized crime

Record

Press release

2015-01-14

U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York, press release 15-010

Manhattan 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.

Date
2015-01-14
Kind
press-release
Source
U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York, press release 15-010
Retrieved
2026-10-12
Docket
Press Release Number 15-010
Rights
A release of the United States Department of Justice, a work of the United States government and in the public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105.

The release, dated Wednesday, 14 January 2015, announces that the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Teamsters had entered into a settlement agreement that, if approved by the court, “would replace the Consent Decree currently governing the Union’s affairs.” It says: “The Consent Decree has been in place since March 1989, following the Government’s filing of a landmark civil lawsuit under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (‘RICO’) Act designed to rid the Union of the corrupting influence of organized crime.”

It summarizes the decree. The decree “permanently enjoined all IBT members, officers, employees, and agents from committing acts of racketeering activity or knowingly associating with various organized crime groups”; it provided for “‘one-member, one-vote’ direct elections of IBT International Officers”; and it established a court-appointed, three-member Independent Review Board. Under the proposed agreement the injunction and the election reforms would remain, and the Board would be phased out over a five-year transition while the union set up its own disciplinary officers approved by the Government. The agreement was submitted to Chief Judge Loretta A. Preska for approval.

The release quotes U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. The page footer says it was updated on 15 May 2015. This archive has not opened the settlement agreement itself or any record of whether the court approved it.

itemUnited 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.itemUnited States v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 931 F.2d 177 (2d Cir. 1991): the Election Rules decisionThe Second Circuit largely affirmed the order approving the court-appointed Election Officer's rules for the 1991 Teamsters election under the Consent Decree, modifying the rules on aid to candidates from non-members.itemUnited States v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 12 F.3d 360 (2d Cir. 1993): appointment to the Independent Review BoardThe Second Circuit affirmed the order appointing William H. Webster as the third member of the Independent Review Board created under the Teamsters Consent Decree.