Genovese operative Joseph Olivieri sent emails from prison in attempt to get union carpenters back under mob's control: report

Monitor Dennis Walsh says mobster regularly communicated with lawyer from Fort Dix lockup

Dennis Walsh, (r.) a  court-appointed monitor, says Genovese crime associate Joseph Olivieri said wise guy regularly
emailed lawyer in effort to funnel union carpenters into a new, mob-controlled union. 

BY GREG B. SMITH / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS.

A top Mafia operative used his email access from federal prison in an attempt get union carpenters - the city's biggest trade group - back under the mob's thumb, a new report reveals.

Joseph Olivieri, the Genovese crime family's liaison to the city's trade unions, was sentenced to 18 months in June 2011 for lying about mob infestation of the 20,000-member District Council of Carpenters.

In a report released Monday, Dennis Walsh, a court-appointed monitor overseeing the cleanup of the long-troubled union, found that Olivieri didn't let prison slow him down. Walsh subpoenaed months of Olivieri's emails from the minimum-security prison camp at Fort Dix, where Olivieri regularly communicated by email with lawyer Angelo Bisceglie in an effort to funnel union carpenters into a new, mob-controlled union.

The Bureau of Prisons says inmates do not have direct access to the Internet but communicate electronically to the outside world by submitting messages to prison officials for review.

Officials must approve of the inmate's contacts, and the text is perused to make sure it's not a threat to security or part of a continuing criminal conspiracy.

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Union president pays visits to jailed Genovese crime family associate

Joseph Firth of Amalgamated Carpenters and Joiners visited 'friend' Joe Olivieri at N.J. federal prison 

By Greg B. Smith / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

A breakaway union that dubs itself the “clean” alternative to the corruption-plagued District Council of Carpenters apparently didn’t get the memo about avoiding ties to the mob.

Joseph Firth, who’s listed as president of the upstart Amalgamated Carpenters and Joiners, confirmed to the Daily News he recently visited a federal prison in New Jersey to chat with Joe Olivieri, a Genovese crime family associate.

Olivieri, tagged by the feds as an underworld liaison to two of the city’s most powerful construction unions, is serving 18 months for perjury after his conviction in 2010. A jury found he lied about his Mafia connections.

Firth called Olivieri a “friend” on a form submitted in February to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, allowing officials to put the union president on a list of approved visitors. Reached by The News Friday, Firth admitted that he had recently visited Olivieri at the prison, but he wouldn’t say precisely when or how many times.

“I always thought he was a fair man,” Firth said, insisting that anything he knows about Olivieri’s mob ties “he read in the papers.”

“It’s a problem if it’s the truth, but I heard it was just hearsay,” he said.

Firth and several other former members of the District Council of Carpenters broke away to form the Amalgamated union, claiming they want to offer a blemish-free option to its 20,000 members.

The District Council is currently being monitored by a court-appointed review officer, whose mission is to clean up the historically dirty union.

The last District Council president, Michael Forde, is now serving 11 years in prison after pleading guilty to a stunning list of corruption charges; he met frequently with Olivieri.

Despite Amalgamated’s claims, The News reported Sunday that several organizers of the splinter group were actually kicked out of the District Council and its locals for using union funds for personal perks.

And one Amalgamated member, Eric Gundersen, who has been acting as the outfit’s spokesman, has a criminal past, including time served for severely beating an off-duty transit officer.

Further, the court-appointed review officer keeping tabs on the District Council is investigating whether Amalgamated appears to be a ruse to escape federal oversight.

Firth admits he’s known Olivieri for “seven to eight years” through the union, and said he met with the convicted felon in prison to discuss “a couple of companies I might want to go speak with, to see if they’re on the up and up.”

He said he was searching for new contracts.

“I know he has a lot of information,” Firth added of Olivieri.

During Olivieri’s 2010 trial, an official from another union, Operating Engineers Local 14, recalled how he once balked at a request to promote a low-level union official favored by the mob.

In response, he said Olivieri told him: “If you don’t, you’re going to be in a world of hurt.” Firth contended he never had any Godfather-like moments with his pal.

“When I dealt with him, there was never any strong-arming or cheating that I saw,” he said. “I mean that and I would say that in court.”

Jackhammers welcome at stalled development

Construction of the log-stalled Tulfan Terrace, at 3620 Oxford Ave., is expected to be completed by early next year.

By Adam Wisnieski

Construction on Riverdale’s eyesore of the decade, Tulfan Terrace, may finally be completed by January 2013.

What happens after that? Nobody knows.

Michael Goldberg, one of the owners of Ox-3620 LLC, said he is unsure whether the building’s 30 units will be up for sale or for rent. He cited the condo market’s precarious condition as the reason for his open mind on the subject.

His LLC bought the unfinished tower out of foreclosure in 2010 after cleaning up the financial mess left behind four years earlier by its previous mobbed-up owners All 30 units have three bedrooms, two-and-a-half bathrooms and include terraces.

Construction on the 20-story building began in 2004, but misdeeds — and the feds — caught up with one of the owners, James Murray. Construction ceased in 2006 when Mr. Murray, also the project’s chief financier, was taken down on fraud and embezzlement charges related to another Riverdale development project — the Cambridge Mews — located at 3536 Cambridge Ave. His partners were left without enough capital to complete Tulfan Terrace and the building fell into foreclosure. Its hollow frame was left untouched for years.

Mr. Murray was charged with embezzling money from benefit funds, scheming to defraud the District Council and evading federal financial reporting requirements. He has since testified against former trustee of the New York City Carpenters Union, Joseph Olivieri, and was allowed to walk away from his own charges in June.

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Message from the Office of the Inspector General

NEWS From the Office of the New York City & Vicinity District Council of Carpenters Inspector General Scott C. Danielson

Contact: Karolyn Castillo
212.366.3354
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 15, 2011

JOSEPH OLIVIERI, FORMER TRUSTEE OF CARPENTERS UNION BENEFIT FUNDS, SENTENCED IN MANHATTAN FEDERAL COURT TO 18 MONTHS IN PRISON FOR PERJURY CONVICTION

On June 3, 2011 Joseph Olivieri was sentenced in Manhattan federal court to 18 months imprisonment for perjury. Olivieri, a former trustee of the New York City District Council of Carpenters Benefit Funds and the former Executive Director of the Association of Wall, Ceiling and Carpentry Industries of New York was convicted by a jury following a one-week trial before U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero in October 2010.

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Ex-Union Benefit Fund Trustee Gets 18 Months In Prison For Perjury

Briarcliff Manor resident lied about ties to organized crime.

By William Demarest

A former union leader from Briarcliff Manor was sentenced today in federal court in Manhattan to 18 months in prison and fined $10,000 for perjury.

Joseph Olivieri, 56, of Briarcliff Manor, also faces three years of supervised release after he gets out of prison.

Olivieri is the former executive director of the Association of Wall, Ceiling, and Carpentry Industries of New York and a former trustee of the benefit funds managed for the District Council of New York City and Vicinity of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners. He was convicted by a jury after a one-week trial before U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero in October 2010.

"Joseph Olivieri was a corrupt union trustee who, along with his cronies both inside and outside the union, exploited the hard-working carpenters whose pension and benefit funds he was supposed to protect,” said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara. “Today's sentence is the latest result of this office's campaign to root out organized crime and corruption in the union and to prosecute those responsible."

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Judge says Irish contractor who stole millions “a hero”

By Brian Fitzpatrick

Corrupt Irish contractor James Murray (45), who turned government witness against one of New York’s biggest unions, was freed on Thursday with a judge praising him as “a genuine hero” and sentencing him to time served. Under sentencing guidelines he could have faced a nine-year jail term.

Co. Meath man Murray, who had fled to Ireland in 2006 after being indicted on money laundering, fraud and embezzlement charges, had bribed union officials to avoid paying millions in contractual benefits to workers. He eventually returned to the U.S. to help prosecutors to convict a host of top officials at the New York City District Council of Carpenters.

"You made a decision to return to this country to fight the corruption by breaking the wall of silence," Murray was told by Manhattan Federal Judge Kimba Wood. "You and your family should be proud. The government says you were a unique cooperator. What you have done for all New Yorkers makes you a genuine hero."

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Corrupt Irish contractor a ‘hero' in judge’s eyes

By DARA KELLY IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Times Square Tower

An Irishman who stole millions as a corrupt New York contractor has been hailed a hero by a federal judge and set free.

James Murray fled to Ireland in 2006 after he was indicted for money laundering. He cheated workers out of wages and benefits but returned to the U.S. to testify against corrupt union bosses. Prosecutors had recommended he do time, but the judge sentenced him to time served.

"You made a decision to return to this country to fight the corruption by breaking the wall of silence," Manhattan Federal Judge Kimba Wood told Murray.

"You and your family should be proud. The government says you were a unique cooperator. What you have done for all New Yorkers makes you a genuine hero."

Even the Irishman thought the judge went over the top.

"I'm not a hero," he said after being sentenced.

A Union member, Patrick Brennan, said that Murray was just looking out for himself.

"It's the way the system works. He cut a deal," Brennan said. "Every scared rat, what they do is cut a deal. Whoever cuts the first deal gets the best deal."

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Forde Holdover Carpenter Boss D'Errico Fired and 7 Others Netted in Walsh's Mob Corruption Probe

Forde Holdover D'Errico Fired.

Informed sources say Local 157 President/Director of Operations/Benefit Fund Trustee, and Forde holdover, Lawrence D’Errico, 47, has been fired by UBC Supervisor Frank Spencer, on Friday March 18th.

Spencer appointed Area Standards Director Eddie McWilliams, new "Acting Director of Operations," the source said.

On Wednesday March 16, we reported that Review Officer ("RO") Dennis Walsh, issued a veto letter to D’Errico on Monday March 14th, vetoing D'Errico's employment as a council representative, allegedly for organized crime associations.

D'Errico, was appointed "Acting Director of Operations" in July, and replaced Maurice Leary, who suddenly retired immediately after Michael Forde copped a plea to corruption charges, received a $45,000 salary increase in December from Supervisor Spencer, increasing his salary from $177,776 last year to over $223,000 this year, an informed source said.

The RO has been zealously conducting investigations into troubling allegations that after 587 days of supervision by the UBC International, because former council leader, Michael J. Forde, and nine others, were charged with racketeering, the New York City District Council of Carpenters remains influenced by the mob, deeply ingrained in the culture of corruption and is still a source of cash and illicit benefits for a select few.

In October, Spencer posted a video message on the councils website, saying "We had the issues with corruption, But that's yesterday."

On Friday, November 19, 2010, Michael Forde was sentenced to 11 years in prison. Forde had pleaded guilty to racketeering, bribery and perjury in late July in connection with taking as much as $1 million in illegal contractor bribes and skimming many millions more from union benefit funds. The Justice Department uncovered the scheme as part of a probe that netted guilty pleas from eight persons and the jury conviction of Genovese crime family-linked contractor Joseph Olivieri. 

In December the RO filed a report showing some progress in cleaning up the district council but presented a troubling picture of corruption, and some aspects of the report raise questions about the stewardship of supervisor Frank Spencer.

Many members, including myself have criticized Spencer and his handling of the supervision. The RO's report includes evidence and troubling allegations that some of the same kinds of misconduct that led to the 2009 charges have continued under Spencer’s supervision.

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Page Six

Brugeras third from left.

And Another Carpenter Union Leader Bites The Dust

We hear...THAT council organizer/Local 926 Financial Secretary, Ray Brugeras, has also suddenly resigned last week.

Sources say Brugueras is the third person to resign because he refused to sign an affidavit from the Review Officer, Dennis Walsh, stating he's not connected to or has any knowledge of organized crime influence over the district council. Richard Tuccillo and Paul Pietropaolo also resigned and did not sign the affidavit. 

Brugeras was Director Eddie McWilliams, deputy in Organizing and hired last year at the request of Joe Olivieri, an informed source said.

In November a Manhattan federal jury found Olivieri (56), ex-executive director of the Association of Wall, Ceiling & Carpentry Industries guilty of perjury over a sworn deposition he gave three years ago in a civil RICO case.

Trustees Hire New Counsel To Investigate Financially Troubled Funds

Raymond McGuire

More than a year after its parent union placed the New York City District Council of Carpenters under supervision because its leader was charged with racketeering, the health of the Benefit Funds are in "dire,dire financial trouble" and it is "very possible that the funds will in fact collapse within ten years,” according UBC attorney Kenneth Conboy, revealed in court proceedings on February 8th related to the Bilello motion, for council elections.

The Funds provides life insurance, hospitalization, medical care, pension and vacation benefits to union members.

Conboy also informed Judge Richard Berman, that District Council Benefit Fund trustees have agreed upon new counsel for the Benefit Funds, Raymond McGuire, of the law firm KM & M. McGuire is a very distinguished Harvard Law School graduate labor lawyer in New York.

According to Conboys assessment, the fundamental difficulty with the funds is that a "large number of contractors appear to have been given waivers" by the corrupt Forde administration, allowing them to evade contributions to the fund.

Mr. McGuire responsibilities among other things, will be to do a " thorough investigation of the of the financial condition of the funds and a retrospective inquiry as to what money is owed, who owes it, and how can it be collected." This challenge will involve undoubtedly bringing lawsuits against those contractors who had legal obligations to contribute to the fund and did not. Mr. McGuire will also make recommendations for a "completely reformed internal administrative engine to deal with this in a responsible way or, very possibly, independent third party administration of the fund."

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Top Ten Union Corruption Stories of the Year

Submitted by Carl Horowitz

Top TenOrganized labor, masters of aggressive politics, had its share of triumphs over the past year. With Democrats having taken control of the White House and both houses of Congress in 2009, this was to be expected. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and other union officials used their window of opportunity to pressure Congress into passing a health care overhaul mandating unprecedented degrees of government intrusion, and by extension, major opportunities for unionization of the health care labor force. They also secured key presidential appointments. That said, the year was noteworthy for legislative mandates unions didn't achieve, especially forced private-sector employer recognition of majority union "card checks" and forced state and local government bargaining with public-safety unions. The new Congress, with a GOP House majority, is far less likely to deliver on either count. Meanwhile, Justice Department crackdowns finished off various union-Mafia scams. Embezzlers, great and small, got their comeuppance. And the unions' favorite nonprofit, the once-thriving ACORN, is no more.

Union leaders put their penchant for political backroom dealing to good use in 2010, helping to deliver for constituents health care "reform" legislation that will cost taxpayers $940 billion over the next decade (if not more), and with far less consumer choice. Richard Trumka and soon-to-depart Service Employees International Union (SEIU) President Andrew Stern operated as virtual White House lobbyists to shape the final package, which the House of Representatives passed in March by a slim 219-212 margin. Parliamentary maneuvering led by union ally Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., had short-circuited a Senate filibuster. It's not as if union bosses in Reid's home state forgot their benefactor come election time. Highly persuasive evidence emerged that SEIU-affiliated workers in Clark County, where three-fourth's of Nevada's population resides, rigged voting machines to bring about Reid's improbable come-from-behind win against GOP challenger Sharron Angle.

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Review of Carpenters’ Union Shows Corruption Persists

by William K. Rashbaum

Federal Watchdog Dennis Walsh.

More than a year after its parent union placed the New York City District Council of Carpenters under supervision because its leader was charged with racketeering, the council remains influenced by the mob and is still a source of cash and illicit benefits for a select few, according to a recent assessment.

Dennis M. Walsh, a court-appointed reviewer, issued a 71-page report on the New York City District Council of Carpenters.

The assessment, filed last month by a court-appointed review officer, shows some progress in cleaning up the district council and its constituent locals, and proposes a number of substantive reforms.

But it also presents a troubling picture of a deeply ingrained culture of corruption, and some aspects of the assessment raise questions about with the stewardship of the supervisor appointed by the parent union, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.

The report contains no direct criticism of the supervisor, Frank Spencer, who was installed by the parent union in August 2009, days after the federal racketeering indictment was unsealed charging the district council’s leader, Michael J. Forde, and nine others, including union officials, contractors and the head of an industry association.

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Mayo man in New York carpenters’ union set for sentencing on felony

Mayo Advertiser

A Mayo man with a high profile in the New York Irish community has been implicated in a scandal that has resulted in the shutting down of a carpenters’ union in the city.

According to a report in the Irish Emigrant this week, New York’s Local 608 carpenters’ union has been permanently closed in the aftermath of racketeering and corruption scandals which have blighted the organisation.

The report states:

“A recent sweeping federal probe has seen numerous corruption convictions, and five of the branch’s recent presidents have been fired.

“In New York City, approximately 20,000 members of the Carpenters Union are divided into so-called ‘locals’. Founded in 1918, Local 608, which oversaw carpenters on Manhattan’s West Side and the Bronx, was once the largest local in the District Council, with approximately 7,400 members, many of whom are Irish or Irish American. Its members have now been transferred to East Side Local 157, itself no stranger to controversy, having been placed under anti-corruption supervision from 2007 to late 2008.

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New York carpenters union shut down after scandals

Former 608 president John Greany

The Irish Emigrant  

New York’s Local 608 carpenters union has been permanently closed in the aftermath of the racketeering and corruption scandals which have blighted the organization. A recent sweeping federal probe has seen numerous corruption convictions, and five of the branch’s recent presidents have been fired.

In New York City, approximately 20,000 members of the Carpenters Union are divided into so-called “locals.” Founded in 1918, Local 608, which oversaw carpenters on Manhattan’s West Side and the Bronx, was once the largest local in the District Council, with approximately 7,400 members, many of whom are Irish or Irish American. Its members have now been transferred to East Side Local 157, itself no stranger to controversy, having been placed under anti-corruption supervision from 2007 to late 2008.

In July John Greaney (50), one of the former Local 608 presidents in question, pleaded guilty to thirteen felony charges including corruption, racketeering, embezzlement, bribery and perjury, whilst serving in office. Greaney, whose mother hailed from Swinford in Co. Mayo, had previously been honored for his role in New York’s Irish community.

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New York Carpenters Boss Michael Forde Sentenced

Submitted by Carl Horowitz
 

Forde

Standing before a judge in Manhattan federal court on Friday, November 19, Michael Forde learned the price of high living and the crime that made it possible: 11 years in prison. For some members of the organization he once headed, the New York District Council of Carpenters and Joiners, that isn't long enough. Forde had pleaded guilty to racketeering, bribery and perjury in late July in connection with taking as much as $1 million in illegal contractor bribes and skimming many millions more from union benefit funds. The Justice Department uncovered the scheme as part of a probe that recently netted guilty pleas from eight persons and the jury conviction of Genovese crime family-linked contractor Joseph Olivieri. In addition to serving time, Forde must forfeit $100,000 in cash, pay a $50,000 fine, and pay restitution that union officials put at $18 million.

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D’Errico Uses Trickery To Stop Vote

By Publius

The new boss of the scandal-scarred carpenters union used trickery in an effort to prevent members from voting on a motion for a copy of the meeting minutes.

Lawernce D’Errico the new Director of Operation for the New York City District Council of Carpenters faces potential internal union charges for violating members' rights.

D’Errico who is also a trustee of the District Council benefit funds and President of Local 157, is a Michael Forde hold-over who was promoted to Director of Operations by UBC Supervisor Frank Spencer.

Spencer the eastern district vice president was brought in by the International Brotherhood to supervise the district council in the wake of Michael Forde's 2009 indictment.

Forde, the drinking-and-drugging ex-boss of the carpenters union was sentenced Friday in Manhattan federal court to 11 years in prison for his participation in a racketeering scheme that defrauded the union and its benefit funds out of millions of dollars.

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Irish builder tells of NY construction’s mob ties

The Irish Emigrant

Giving evidence in the trial of Joseph “Rudy” Olivieri, Irish builder James Murray has told how the mafia remains firmly rooted within New York’s construction industry.

A Manhattan federal jury Wednesday found Olivieri (56), ex-executive director of the Long Island-based Association of Wall, Ceiling & Carpentry Industries guilty of perjury over a sworn deposition he gave three years ago in a civil RICO case.

Olivieri faces up to five years in prison plus prosecution on four related charges including conspiracy and fraud. He had long been suspected by investigators as the primary link between construction unions and the Genovese crime family.

As part of the racketeering probe, nine other defendants including former Carpenters & Joiners District boss Michael Forde and former head of the Local 608 union John Greaney have already pleaded guilty and been convicted.

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Cooley Testifies To Paying Bribes To Forde

Michael Forde the corrupt former Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the New York City District Council of Carpenters, who pleaded guilty to participating in a 15-year racketeering scheme will be sentenced on November 19, 2010.

If you needed any further evidence to demonstrate that Forde was always a corrupt union official, Larry Cooley, a former Suffolk County deputy labor commissioner provided it.

Cooley, testified in the Olivieri trial to paying bribes to Forde and others when he owned Commercial Drywall. Cooley also made Murray a secret partner in his company late in 2004 and 2005.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy fired Cooley, 69, of Greenlawn, after he testified that he made illegal payoffs to union officials.

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Danielson, Murry and Greaney Testify In Olivieri Trial

Scott Danielson, the newly appointed Inspector General for the District Council, James Murry the corrupt owner of On Par Contracting who fled to Ireland and later plead guilty to fraud, was persuaded to return when the feds seized his properties, and John Greaney, the corrupt former president and business manager of Local 608 and Forde's No. 2 man who pleaded guilty to all 13 counts were called to testify last week during the perjury trial of Joseph Olivieri, the former head of the Wall-Ceiling Association.

Danielson, Murry and Greaney, among other things testified about how the out-of-work list operates, how shop stewards are dispatched from the council and how Greaney and Michael Forde, the corrupt former Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the New York City District Council of Carpenters, who pleaded guilty to participating in a 15-year racketeering scheme, helped Murry get corrupt shop stewards.

Below is a partial transcript of Danielson, Murry and Greaney being questioned by prosecutors.

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Mafia ties revealed to New York Irish construction firm

Irish informer spills the beans on mob ties 

By MOLLY MULDOON, IrishCentral.com

Times Square Tower

An Irish contractor  delivered a detailed account of the Mafia's involvement in New York's construction industry in a Manhattan courtroom last month.

James Murray, the immigrant builder, told the court how he climbed the ranks to success with help from the mob before crashing and losing everything. Murray addressed the court in a low voice as federal prosecutor Lisa Zornberg questioned him according to the Village Voice.

Murray  had immigrated from Ireland in the prime of his youth twenty years ago.

"I was looking for work. I had an argument with my father, and I came to the States."

He dropped out of school at 13 the reason being, he told the court he had a difficulty reading. When he got to New York he started work as a carpenter before he started up his own business renovating homes. A fellow Irish man then helped him develop his modest business into a bigger operation.

To get the bigger jobs he signed up with the New York City District Council of Carpenters, pledging to build his projects with the union labor: "You can't work unless you're union," he reminded the court.

Things were going well for Murray, who called his company “On Par Contracting” and soon had 700 workers on the pay roll courtesy of the union and some shady background figures .  Their extensive list of projects included the Times Square Tower, high-rises, hospitals and university projects.

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