Labour union exec pleads guilty to bribery charges
Published: March 5th 2010
Source: St. Louis Globe-Democrat
Edward W. Rodzwicz, 63, president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen pleaded guilty to bribery charges Thursday, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Rodzwicz was the sitting president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, (BLET), a national labour union with over 55,000 members consisting of railroad employees throughout the United States. It is a division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
According to court documents: The BLET maintains a list of designated legal counsel (DLC), who are recommended to their membership to handle injury cases under the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA). Designation as a DLC generates very lucrative business for designated attorneys.
The national president of the BLET has critical influence over the designation of FELA attorneys. In February 2009, an internal compliance committee recommended that a particular DLC attorney for the BLET should lose his or her designation, due to alleged violations of DLC Rules of Conduct. On March 10, 2009, Rodzwicz approached that attorney in Little Rock, Arkansas and solicited a payment from that attorney in exchange for allowing him to retain his or her DLC designation.
The DLC attorney contacted the Department of Labour, Office of Inspector General. In subsequent meetings at the attorney’s office in St. Louis and at Harrah’s Casino, Las Vegas, Nev., Rodzwicz solicited and agreed to accept a cash payment of $10,000 from the attorney, plus the promise of an additional cash payment of $10,000 after Rodzwicz allowed him to retain his or her designation. Rodzwicz accepted a cash payment from the attorney on April 28, 2009, in Las Vegas, and he sent a letter allowing the attorney to retain his designation on May 1, 2009. He accepted a second cash payment of $10,000 from the attorney on Sept. 16, 2009, in Kansas City.
Daniel R. Petrole, Deputy Inspector General, United States Department of Labour, said, "Labour racketeering within a union represents a betrayal of the trust of its members. Today's guilty plea highlights the efforts of the Office of Inspector General to identify and bring to justice a high-level union official who solicited and accepted bribes. My office remains fully committed to working with the U.S. Attorney to prevent these types of crimes." Rodzwicz pleaded guilty to one felony count of bribery in connection with a federally funded program and one felony count of interstate travel to carry on unlawful activity. Rodzwicz faces up to ten years in prison and/or fines up to $250,000 on the bribery charge and five years in prison and/or fines up to $250,000 for interstate travel to carry on unlawful activity.