Charges Dismissed Against Chicago Teamster Official Hogan

in Free Speech Case

Contact: George Bogdanich

(646) 301-3435

NEW YORK – Criminal contempt charges brought three years ago by the federal government against former Teamster leader William Hogan will be dismissed under a Deferred Prosecution Agreement approved by Judge Loretta Preska on May 27 in United States District Court, Southern District of New York. Hogan, who once headed Chicago’s Joint Council 25 and whose Local 714 represented film production and trade show workers, had been charged with criminal contempt for speaking with four friends of his in the Teamsters Union after his expulsion from the Union, in violation of a non-association provision of a consent decree entered into by the Teamsters in 1989. The charge was subsequently amended to include a contempt allegation arising from Hogan’s short-lived 2007 employment by a business employing Teamster members, the claim being that Hogan was indirectly consulting with the Union. All charges will be dismissed under the Agreement according to Hogan’s attorney Alan Kaufman.

Hogan’s legal fight against limitations on free speech drew support from celebrities such as actor James Belushi, Chicago Bears Superbowl MVP Richard Dent, civil libertarians, elected officials, union leaders, as well as business leaders who worked closely with Hogan to bring film productions and trade shows to Chicago.

The ban on contact with former Teamster officials was issued by the Independent Review Board (IRB), an embedded Justice Dept sponsored watchdog set up under a controversial consent decree that the international union was pressured to sign by former US Attorney Rudy Giuliani in 1989.  The IRB was given sweeping powers to remove suspected mobsters on a short term basis. But following the removal of the mobsters in the first few years of the consent decree, the powers of the IRB have grown to punish any perceived infraction of union or IRB rules.  Critics say that to justify its lavish $8 million budget paid out of Teamsters dues money, the IRB has used its power to remove union officials on petty or baseless charges. Once removed, teamster leaders cannot contact even their lifelong friends in the union to discuss personal matters.

Hogan, 68, a respected union and civic leader who has served 30 years on the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau, was never accused of a crime or association with mobsters when he was removed in 2002 from his position and banned for life, following an IRB charge that he “intended” to negotiate a substandard labor agreement for temporary Las Vegas trade show workers.  Five years later, Hogan was accused of contempt of court for speaking to four friends in the union, including Local 714 Organizing Director Bob Riley, his best friend of 55 years.  Riley and three other officials who spoke to Hogan were also banned for life. The IRB also initiated action to suspend Hogan’s son Robert as leader of Local 714 for not punishing Riley for speaking to the younger Hogan’s father. Local 714 was disbanded last year and its 10,000 members divided among other Teamster locals.