Feds expanding probe into UTU and other Unions in wake of Convictions

[Anonymous]

From the Houston Chronicle

By HARVEY RICE

The guilty pleas of three officials in the nation's largest railroad operating union are the opening salvo in a bribery probe that could snare some Houston lawyers and officials in other unions, a federal prosecutor said Wednesday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Gallagher said investigators also will look into the possibility that some people committed perjury before the grand jury.

The United Transportation Union officers are the focus of the investigation, he said, and authorities also are looking into "the conduct and activities of attorneys."

Gallagher revealed the continuing investigation in his answer to a question by U.S. District Judge Sim Lake following a guilty plea by John Russell Rookard, 58, a board member for the United Transportation Union Insurance Association.

Gallagher told Lake that many of the attorneys listed in a plea agreement detailing Rookard's alleged crimes were from Houston.

The indictment of Rookard and three other union officials in September focused on allegations of the sale of access by attorneys to union workers injured on the job.

The indictment alleged that union presidents determined which attorneys were included on the union's designated legal counsel list, a coveted designation because it gave attorneys easier access to injured union members in potentially lucrative damage suits.

The 1908 Federal Employers Liability Act allows unlimited damages for railroad workers because their jobs are so hazardous.

Lawyers on the list were given union membership, which allowed them access to otherwise closed union meetings and the imprimatur of the union, authorities said.

At the time of the indictments, 56 designated legal counsels were listed on the union's Web site, six in Texas and five from the Houston area.

Rookard was top assistant to United Transportation Union International President Byron Alfred Boyd Jr., 57, who is scheduled to plead guilty today.

Charles Leonard Little, 69, of Leander, former union international president; and Ralph John Dennis, 51, former union insurance director, pleaded guilty last year.

The union, with headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio, has about 125,000 members nationwide in the railroad, bus, mass transit and airline industries.

Rookard faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine after pleading guilty to a conspiracy charge under the federal racketeering statute. He agreed to forfeit the $45,000 he earned for his part in the bribery scheme.

Lake scheduled Rookard's sentencing for May 10. Rookard and the other union officials remain free on $100,000 bail pending their sentencing. They have agreed to cooperate with the government.

Under the plea agreement, Rookard is barred from holding any union offices or offices in any employment benefit plans.

[Anonymous]

I heard that they were kicked out of the State of Michigan

DOGGY

[edblysard]

And heres the sad part,
The former President resigned, to allow Boyd to take over, for $100,000 and a pick up truck.
Man, not only are they a bunch of crooks, they are real cheap crooks to boot.
And Boyd didnt even pay up on the cash, just the truck.

So the presidency of my union is up for sale, for the cost of a pick up truck?

Makes you wonder how much the carriers paid Boyd and company to sell us out on the remote control issue.

Ed

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by edblysard

And heres the sad part,
The former President resigned, to allow Boyd to take over, for $100,000 and a pick up truck.
Man, not only are they a bunch of crooks, they are real cheap crooks to boot.
And Boyd didnt even pay up on the cash, just the truck.

So the presidency of my union is up for sale, for the cost of a pick up truck?

Makes you wonder how much the carriers paid Boyd and company to sell us out on the remote control issue. why not join the BLET,a far superior union to the UTU.

Ed