William W. Hamilton

The U.S. Supreme Court turned down an appeal to hear the case of a ex-Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters political director William W. Hamilton, Jr., who was convicted of union corruption in 1999.  The court, without comment, refused to examine the conviction for participating in a plan to use third-party political groups to benefit IBT's ex-president Ron Carey. Hamilton received a three-year prison sentence.  IBT contributed about $800,000 from its members to third-party political groups, such as the liberal Citizen Action, that ran get-out-the-vote efforts to benefit Democratic candidates in the 1996 elections.  The groups, in turn, contributed to Carey's own campaign fund to help his fight for re-election against challenger James P. Hoffa.

The permanent expulsion of ex-Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters boss Ron Carey from IBT was upheld Apr. 18 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The court affirmed a 1998 district court ruling upholding and enforcing union disciplinary sanctions imposed on Carey and ex-IBT Governmental Affairs Director William W. Hamilton for the central roles they played in the elaborate money laundering scheme that tainted the 1996 IBT election.

"We recognize the irony, indeed the poignancy, of this case, in which a union leader, long pledged to internal reform, should be held accountable for corrupt practices. But the law requires no less," said U.S. Circuit Judge Robert A. Katzmann in writing for the court. "Union democracy, after all, is premised on fair elections. To that end, union officials, such as Carey and Hamilton, have a duty to ensure the integrity of that process and to fulfill their obligations to the union membership by adhering to the highest standards of governance."

U.S. Dist. Judge Thomas P. Griesa in Manhattan sentenced ex-Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters political director William W. Hamilton to 36 months in prison Mar. 14 after he was convicted of helping steer $885,000 in IBT funds to liberal groups as part of a scheme in which donors later contributed to ex-IBT boss Ron Carey's campaign. Federal sentencing guidelines recommend 46 to 57 months in prison. The maximum is 360 months; Hamilton's six convictions were punishable by up to five years each.

Hamilton's lawyer, G. Robert Gage, Jr., pled with Griesa to depart from the guidelines. He emphasized that Hamilton hadn't benefited financially from the embezzlement, had ill and elderly parents and had spent decades working in "public service." Hamilton led civil rights demonstrations as a student, headed Planned Parenthood's D.C. office and was AFSCME's chief of staff. Asides: While at Planned Parenthood, Hamilton attacked the late Mother Teresa in a June 29, 1985 letter in the Wash. Post. And, how does being an AFSCME boss qualify as "public service"?

A federal jury in Manhattan convicted ex-Teamsters political director William W. Hamilton Nov. 19 of union corruption, finding that he helped divert union funds to the 1996 reelection campaign of the union’s ex-boss Ron Carey. The jury reached its verdict after a four-week trial in which the prosecutors linked Hamilton to a scheme that involved $885,000 in union funds being funneled to aid Carey’s campaign. The jury deliberated for nearly two days and found Hamilton guilty on all six counts, including conspiracy, embezzlement, fraud and perjury. Hamilton faces 30 years in prison at his sentencing on Feb. 29, 2000, by U.S. Dist. Judge Thomas P. Griesa. [N.Y. Times 11/20/99]