January 6,
1997
United
States Justice Department
Organized
Crime and Racketeering Division
Main
Justice Building
10th St.
and Constitution Ave. NW.
Washington,
D.C. 20530
ATT: U.S.
Trial Attorney Kenneth Laurie
Re:
Laborers International Union of North America-Consent Decree
Dear Ken,
As you already
know my father was a member of the Cosa Nostra and as a result of his status in
this crime family I became the recipient of a business agents position at
Laborers Local 210 in Buffalo, New York in 1970. This appointment was not the
result of any labor relations acumen on my part but a gesture by the then Local
unions secretary treasurer acknowledging my father and his then position as
boss of the family.
In 1973 as the
result of a fracture in the hierarchy of the Buffalo Cosa Nostra, I was elected
to the position of Business Manager on the promise that I would allow the
membership the right to run their local union. After being in office for only
two weeks, I was summoned to a Cosa Nostra sit-down and told that all decisions
would be made by the mob, not the union membership. I was quite cognizant of
the LCN's methods of enforcing directives and that even my father could not
amend the tragic consequences that the non-connected members would be inundated
with.
With limited resources available and ruling out any dangerous confrontation I decided on a course of aiding the FBI in its endeavor to expose and prosecute LCN members, associates and criminal cohorts. From the period 1973 thru 1989, my more than 3000 reports made by various FBI agents contained incessant examples of illegal and amoral activity by mob members and LIUNA officials from California to New England. This activity was not occasional but purposely designed to afford the mob total dominance of the International from its choke points in Chicago, and New York City. Other LCN families such as those established in Cleveland, Buffalo, Providence, etc., aided in and benefited from this control and rape of the union and its membership.
After my FBI
cooperation became public in 1989, I have openly talked and testified about
this cancer that had infested some of are largest labor unions and deviously
manipulated and infected many others. When the agreement to allow the Laborers
Union the right to conduct its own self cleansing was announced I was quite
disturbed and perplexed by the arrangement. After reviewing the agreement I
remained concerned but the appointment of Doug Gow as the LIUNA Inspector
General and the affording of unlimited financial resources to his newly created
office seemed quite promising.
Besides the
Douglas Gow hiring the main reason I felt that this novel procedure would prove
to be a success lay in the ability to add fiduciary violations as a means of
ejecting LCN members and associates from the International Union and its
regional offices, district councils and local unions.
Without the
fiduciary violations motivation I knew that the accomplishment threshold would
be beyond reach and that only limited success would be obtainable. Without
subpoena power, access to current on going Federal and State investigations,
the information stream would be limited to already used sources of information.
This course of gathering information is fine but obviously limited and laden with
danger.
The main
liability lay in having government sources that were utilized in the
Government's charge turn that information directly over to the very targets of
that complaint. This would subject a potential government witness to the
targeted objective of the investigation and having that witness explain and
point out all the pertinent information that the government was going to
present is a court of law. This impairment cannot be lightly dismissed
especially when some of those members and associates of the Cosa Nostra named
in the complaint may be the target of a Grand Jury or another related
investigation.
Safeguards
must be installed that provide that under no circumstances will the Inspector
General, his investigative body, the Attorney's assigned to bring charges or
anyone else involved with due process being placed in the unwanted position of
having to in any form answer to anyone under investigation. The inspecting team
must avoid any and all contact with those named in the complaint who are potential
targets of that complaint except during the pursuit of justice. This would mean
that all funding of the Inspector Generals Office and the Attorneys presenting
the evidence would be pre established and not tied in any way to the leadership
of the International Union. Additional regulations would have to be implemented
to prevent those that provided information to the Justice Department from
having to expose themselves to potential adversaries if the Department of
Justice decides to impose a trusteeship.
There is no
question that the public has benefited from this agreement because it has saved
millions of tax payers dollars in court battle costs that would have surely
taken place and there is also no question that under the agreement the Justice
Department has the right to impose Federal trusteeship at any time it feels
obligated. On the other hand however have those financial savings compromised
or harmed the original complaint and provided those named with a water shed of
information that could aid in developing a defense if criminal charges were
ever brought relating to the matter at hand or another.
Some
proponents of the agreement may say that the General Executive board attorney
and the Inspector General have had substantial success against organized crime,
its controlled locals and International officials. They point out the removal
of Sam Caivano and John Serpico. The dislodging of local 210 officers and
agents are also pointed out with the successful takeover of Local 8 in Chicago,
Illinois. These champions detail the successes in New York City with the Mason
Tenders District Council or the membership removal of the Matthew Trupiano's
that infest the local unions.
Those critics
say that the deal's made with John Serpico, Sam Caivano and the Officers of
Local 210 were nothing more than a buy out and that they were the sacrificial
lamb that became necessary. Laborers Local 8 in Chicago was already insolvent
and that made the takeover automatic. Those LCN members and associates that
were expelled from the LIUNA ranks such as Matthew Trupiano were previously
convicted and by law disbarred from holding any official position in any labor
organization. The Mason Tenders district council in New York City had been
under Federal Trusteeship and all this fanfare is nothing more stealing ones
thunder.
You may even
hear a LIUNA analyst question why the only members being expelled from the
LIUNA ranks in New England, New York City or New Jersey are those that have
been already convicted of a felony. The complaint points out district council,
International union and local union officers and agents that operate out of
these regions who have had ties to the LCN. Why haven't any charges been filed
against them and even if they were? it just may be to late! Was an (if any)
investigation of them purely an exercise in avoiding criticism and has the
threshold level for bringing charges placed higher then what it is for others.
You can have the most aggressive competent investigators but if the standard
for filing charges is placed out of reach, all investigative efforts are for
naught.
For the past
18 months I have been employed by the LIUNA Inspector General's office and
during that period of time I have provided numerous information relating to
corrupt union practices that have and continue to take place. This nefarious
and criminal activity runs the gamut from, illegal dumping of hazardous waste,
alter-ego employers, PAC fund violations, criminal and unethical misuse of
collective bargaining agreements, licentious personal financial gain because of
ones elected position, Insurance fraud schemes, Training fund fraud, Pension
fraud, etc., I could on and on. I must emphasize that this activity is not
limited to Buffalo, New York and is quite universal.
I cannot say
that one investigator hired by the Inspector General has ever been remiss is
his pursuit of justice. I do however point out what I have previously stated
about the necessary level for charges filing and add to that the general lack
of understanding of applicable Labor and Environmental laws.
In one case
that comes to mind I pointed out numerous labor and fiduciary violations by a
union official to the assigned investigator, He responded by saying that he
sees nothing wrong with that type of activity and that he views that as
business as usual. This is quite common and many investigators continue to rely
on informants alone and with the current financial restraints that they have
been placed under, have but little choice. This coupled with the Laborers
International union general council having to view and sign off on all
financial requests by the Inspector General's office a strategy for defeat. How
can one investigate oneself without attempting to clear oneself.
Clearly the
Official Laborers International Union response to my testimony before the House
of Representatives subcommittee on Crime is a perfect example of this. In an
effort to paint himself as the person behind the mob cleanup and at the same
time protect himself from those that have placed him in the midst of LCN
activity, Arthur A. Coia saw fit to attempt to discredit me. I wonder how many
thousands of dollars was spent in an attempt to sway sentiment and paint me as
a witness to an invasion by Martians and not to what I reported about the LCN
and all those that I witnessed under its umbrella.
I have no
problem with the Coia affront, I do however question that LIUNA funds were
utilized by the very people that acknowledged mob control and up until December
27, 1996 paid my wages. You cannot have it both ways, If we are to believe what
Arthur Coia states about his O'Hare airport meeting with John Serpico and the
late Chicago crime fame Capo Vince Solano, then why did Coia provide Serpico
new responsibilities after this meeting took place. If Coia were truly
interested in cleansing the LCN and its control of the International ands its
sub-structure then as the President of the International Union he has an
obligation to the membership to come clean and tell all. I for one will forgive
him, but I cannot forgive this game of purging out some LCN activity in LIUNA
and hoping that time will play a favorable hand and save those others who that
are close friends or related.
If the Justice
Department allows this self cleansing to continue then it must recognize that
the agreement time restraints need to be extended. Much more needs to be done
to insure the rights of the membership and that the statements about success
are not the words of those in the know but the echo of the public relations
effort that has cost more than a million dollars of membership money.
I must also
point out that statements of mine (FBI-302's) have been faxed to reporters.
This disturbs me greatly but what confuses me even more is the fact that
information that could easily lead to the discovery of my new identity and
location have also ended up in the hands of one or more reporters. I have gone
to great lengths to avoid compromise and this leak is quite unnerving.
When I first
learned of it I tried to downplay its importance based primarily on the fact
that the leak was to reporters who in all likelihood are probably not linked to
anyone that would like to have me disappear. But the more I thought about it
the more I began to wonder just how far the revelation had traveled. Were the
reporter(s) a singular incident or have others (especially current LIUNA
officials) also become privy to my location? Can I in good conscience afford to
place my wife and her child in harms way! This disclosure has placed me in a
quandary with my wanting to protect my family on one hand and (21 words removed
because they may lead to my discovery) On December 27, 1996 I sent Doug Gow a
letter informing him of my predicament and with it my resignation from
performing future services. I unfortunately do not have any financial savings
to fall back on nor for that matter even needed employment.
Respectfully
Submitted,
Ronald M. Fino