United
States Attorneys Office - July 27 2004:
PRESS RELEASE:
Two Leaders of the International Longshoremen's Association
Affiliated with the Genovese Family Indicted for Extortion
Contacts:
Robert Nardoza
United States Attorney's Office
(718) 254-6323
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ROSLYNN R. MAUSKOPF, United States Attorney for the Eastern District
of New York, PASQUALE J. D'AMURO, Assistant Director-in-Charge of the
New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, RAYMOND W.
KELLY, Commissioner of the New York City Police Department, and THOMAS
DE MARIA, Executive Director, Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor,
today announced the unsealing of an indictment charging two leaders
of the International Longshoreman's Association ("ILA"),
who are alleged to be associates of the Genovese Family of La Cosa
Nostra ("the Genovese family"), with extortion conspiracy
aimed at placing Genovese associates as officers in the ILA, and controlling
the operation of businesses on the piers in the New York, New Jersey
and south Florida.
The indictment charges HAROLD DAGGETT, the assistant general organizer
of the ILA International and also the president of ILA Local 1804-1
in New Jersey, and ARTHUR COFFEY, an ILA International vice-president,
vice-president of the South East and Gulf Coast Region of the ILA,
and president of three ILA Locals in south Florida, with using organized
crime's influence to gain their own jobs and to place other organized
crime associates as officers in the union, and also to control businesses
on the piers for the benefit of organized crime. (1) These charges
follow the July 7, 2004, indictment of ILA International vice-president
Louis Saccenti, a Gambino organized crime family associate, for perjury,
and brings to three the number of ILA International Executive Council
members indicted this month in the Eastern District of New York.
DAGGETT was arrested earlier today and will be arraigned this afternoon
by United States Magistrate Judge Robert M. Levy at the U. S. Courthouse,
225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, New York. COFFEY was previously arrested
on a complaint and released on bail - his arraignment has not yet been
scheduled.
EXTORTION CONSPIRACY - UNION POSITIONS
1. ILA International Presidency. DAGGETT and COFFEY are charged with
conspiring to extort the president of the ILA International, John Bowers,
to install DAGGETT as the ILA president. As alleged in the indictment,
a previously filed complaint and other court filings, in 1999 the Genovese
family decided that DAGGETT should become the next president of the
ILA. In furtherance of the scheme, it is alleged that COFFEY brought
Bowers to a meeting with a Genovese family soldier, who delivered the
message that the Genovese family wanted to replace him with one of
their own when Bowers left the presidency. At a deposition before the
Waterfront Commission in October 2003, Bowers described the meeting:
And he said to me, [the soldier] said - why he said what he said,
I have no idea why he said it, but, "I am now in charge." Or, "I
am the boss." What he meant by that, I have no idea. And he said, "You're
doing a wonderful job." And, he said, "We hope you stay forever." We
- I don't know, "We hope you stay forever. But if you ever leave,
I would like to see Harold Daggett become president."
When asked whether he asked the soldier for any explanation, Bowers
stated:
I am alone, one on one. I know of his [the soldier's] reputation,
I am not going to ask a lot of questions. I am figuring now how the
hell to get out of the place.
2. Assistant General Organizer of the ILA International. DAGGETT and
COFFEY are also charged with conspiring to place DAGGETT in a second
leadership position in the ILA International. The government's pleadings
allege that during the spring of 2000, the Genovese family schemed
to place DAGGETT in a position on the ILA Executive Council to assist
his ascent to the presidency. Specifically, in July 2000, at the
direction of a Genovese soldier, COFFEY arranged a meeting between
himself, the aforementioned Genovese soldier and a second Genovese
soldier to discuss how to elevate DAGGETT to a higher position. COFFEY
was then instructed by Genovese family members to vote for DAGGETT
as assistant general organizer of the International of the ILA, a
top position on the Executive Council. Subsequently, a Genovese associate
passed the message to the ILA leadership that DAGGETT was to be elected
to the position of ILA assistant general organizer. Records of the
ILA International Convention on July 19, 2000, attended by COFFEY,
reflect that DAGGETT ran unopposed and was elected to the position.
EXTORTION CONSPIRACY - PIER BUSINESS
Finally, DAGGETT and COFFEY are charged with conspiring to control
the business on the piers of New York, New Jersey and south Florida.
The government alleges that the Genovese family controls the container
and chassis repair industries, and the ILA operations, on the piers
in New York/New Jersey, utilizing explicit and implicit threats of
violence to exclude legitimate companies from competing for business,
and to extort money from those companies who they permitted to work
on the piers. Specifically, the indictment charges DAGGET with conspiring
to extort legitimate companies through his position as president of
ILA Local 1804-1. Local 1804-1 represents the workers employed at companies
who are members of the Metropolitan Marine Maintenance Contractors
Association, an industry association allegedly long dominated by organized
crime.
"With today's indictment we continue our efforts to rid the ILA
of organized crime influence, which has dominated that union for so
long," stated United States Attorney MAUSKOPF. "The piers
in the metropolitan area are critical to the free flow of commerce
and to the security of this country. As this indictment shows, and
as the previous prosecutions in this district leading to the convictions
of leaders of both the Genovese and Gambino organized crime families
further attest, we will continue this fight until the piers are free
of any organized crime influence." Ms. MAUSKOPF thanked the United
States Department of Labor for its assistance in this case and stated
that the government's investigation is continuing.
FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge D'AMURO stated, "Corruption,
self-dealing and the pernicious influence of organized crime may have
been par for the course on the New York waterfront for decades, but
the tide is turning. Over the course of the past several years, working
with our law enforcement partners, we have made significant headway
toward our objective of cleaning up the piers and the unions that ply
their trade there. Rank and file union members deserve honestly-elected
union leadership. And all of us deserve the elimination of the 'mob
tax' that hikes the cost of goods and services in and out of the ports.
Today's charges are another major step in the right direction."
New York City Police Commissioner KELLY stated, "These arrests
and the indictment stand as another example of our persistent efforts
to rid New York City of organized crime. Every agency involved in this
operation performed their jobs exceptionally."
Waterfront Executive Director DE MARIA stated, "Once again, the
cooperative efforts of the Waterfront Commission, the FBI, the NYPD
and the U. S. Attorney's Office have dealt a blow to the Genovese Crime
Family with the arrest of its reputed associate, HAROLD DAGGETT, for
extortion of the longshore union membership that he was entrusted to
represent. Together, we are removing those who were draining the lifeblood
from the longshore work force. We remain committed to protecting the
overwhelming majority of honest, hardworking and dedicated dock workers
who are the backbone of this great port, and we will stay true to our
mission to eradicate crime and corruption in the Port of New York."
If convicted, the defendants face a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment
and a $250,000 fine.
The government's case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States
Attorneys Paul Weinstein and Taryn Merkl.
The Defendants:
Name: ARTHUR COFFEY
DOB: 1/6/43
Name: HAROLD DAGGETT
DOB: 5/12/46
The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations, and
the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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