Racketeering Trial Set To Begin For Former Philadelphia Ironworkers Union Boss
By Tony Hanson
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- And then there was one. Former Philadelphia ironworkers union boss Joseph Dougherty faces federal trial today for allegedly running his union like an organized crime operation to get work for union members. Eleven of the twelve defendants charged in this case have already pleaded guilty.
Federal authorities allege Joseph Dougherty led Ironworkers Local 401 as a criminal enterprise through a pattern of extortions, arsons, fear, violence and intimidation. One of the charged arsons happened at a Quaker Meetinghouse under construction in Philadelphia in December of 2012. U.S. Attorney Zane Memeger detailed this crime when charges were first filed.
"After a contractor refused to hire union members for the construction project," Memeger said, "defendants went to the construction site and set a crane on fire and cut steel beams and bolts.
The arsonists, James Walsh and William Gillin, are among those who pleaded guilty earlier. But Dougherty maintains his innocence.
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