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Teamsters Convicted In Election Rigging

Three former Teamsters officials in Chicago were found guilty Friday for election rigging. Thaddeus Bania, the former comptroller for Teamsters Local 743, and recording secretary Richard Lopez, were guilty on multiple counts of conspiracy, mail fraud, and stealing union property. Another Teamster, David Rodriguez, was guilty on two counts of mail fraud and three counts of theft.

There were some interesting highlights from the trial. According to testimony, the Teamsters officials marked ballots in a kitchen wearing latex gloves to avoid fingerprints (evidently, they did not do a good enough of a job) and sealing envelopes with moistened paper towels and sponges. And according to a Department of Labor investigator, the Teamsters officials changed the addresses for more than a hundred Teamsters union members in a single day.

Sentencing will take place on August 27. The guilty could face up to 20 years in prison for each count of mail fraud and up to five years for each count of conspiracy and theft.

Categories: Center for Union FactsCrime & CorruptionEFACNewsTeamsters