Jackie Presser
Teamsters general president when he appeared under subpoena before the President's Commission on Organized Crime in April 1985. Indicted in 1986, with two others, on charges of paying "ghost" employees at Local 507.
- Role
- General president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (his own testimony, April 1985); secretary-treasurer of Local 507, as the 1986 indictment charged (Sixth Circuit, 1988)
- Source
- President's Commission on Organized Crime, Record of Hearing VI, Chicago, April 1985, NCJRS scan
- Rights
- Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records state. Each event names its record and the kind of statement it is.
On the record
- April 1985 — His own testimony. Under subpoena in Chicago, asked his occupation, he said: "I am the general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters."
- 16 May 1986 — Charge, as the court recites it. A federal grand jury indicted him, Harold Friedman and Anthony Hughes on charges of employing "ghost" employees at Local 507, Presser "as the Secretary-Treasurer of Local 507." The defense said he and Hughes were FBI "cooperating citizens" (United States v. Presser, 844 F.2d 1275). No record filed here states the outcome.
- March 1986 — Commission characterization. The Edge says his "past activities indicate that he has associated with organized crime figures and that he benefited from their support in his elevation to the IBT presidency in 1983." This is the Commission's statement, not a court's.
The 1986 indictment is a charge. No record filed here gives his birth or death, the outcome of the case, or a crime-family membership.
Records
itemPresident's Commission on Organized Crime, Record of Hearing VI: Organized Crime and Labor-Management Racketeering (Chicago, April 1985)Transcript of the Commission's Chicago hearing of 22 to 24 April 1985. Teamsters general president Jackie Presser appeared under subpoena; asked his occupation, he answered, "I am the general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters."itemUnited States v. Presser, 844 F.2d 1275 (6th Cir. 1988)On a Government appeal in the prosecution of Teamsters president Jackie Presser and two others, the Sixth Circuit vacated a pretrial order to disclose "any and all impeachment evidence." The opinion recites the 1986 indictment over "ghost" employees at Local 507.
itemPresident's Commission on Organized Crime, The Edge (1986): the Teamsters and longshoremen sectionsThe Commission's 1986 report on organized crime, business and labor unions. Its Teamsters section, "The Most Controlled Union," reviews five IBT presidents from 1952 to 1985 and quotes Roy L. Williams: "Every big [Teamster] local union ... had some connection with organized crime."