An accused Mafia figure who disappeared during his federal trial on waterfront corruption charges and is feared dead was acquitted yesterday along with two co-defendants, both high-ranking officials in the International Longshoremen's Association.þþThe not-guilty verdicts were a significant blow to federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, who brought a civil racketeering suit against the association in July in an effort to take over the union, which they charge has been controlled by two New York mob families for about 50 years.þþDefense lawyers for the two union officials, Vice President Arthur Coffey and Harold J. Daggett, the assistant general organizer, contended that the acquittals on extortion conspiracyand fraud charges were a setback to the government's civil suit, brought under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.þþÿI think it really puts a hole in the civil RICO and hopefully they'll go back to the drawing boards, and we may not see the civil RICO,ÿ said Mr. Coffey's lawyer, Gerald J. McMahon.þþProsecutors, while acknowledging that the loss was a setback, said they believed that the government would prevail in the civil case. They said a fourth defendant, the union's executive vice president, Albert Cernadas, pleaded guilty this year to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud.þþThe reaction to the verdict, however, by the lawyer for the defendant who disappeared, Lawrence Ricci, was more muted. Mr. Ricci, 60, who prosecutors contend was an acting captain in the Genovese crime family, failed to appear in court for trial on Oct. 7. And while Judge I. Leo Glasser of Federal District Court issued a warrant for him four days later, some government officials have said they fear he was slain.þþÿWell, I hope he's alive, and I hope it brings some solace to the family,ÿ Mr. Ricci's lawyer, Martin L. Schmukler, said about the verdict. ÿYou know at least that a jury saw innocence here. I know they'll be pleased for that.ÿþþMr. Ricci's fate remains unclear. There is some division among federal investigators as to whether he fled or was slain; several investigators have said they are skeptical that a man they had identified as a veteran mob figure would flee, facing just the five-year maximum sentence that the mail and wire fraud charges against him carry. ÿNow let's see if he turns up,ÿ said one law enforcement official.þþWhen the jury forewoman read the first not-guilty verdict, the defendants' family members in the gallery cried out. After she read not guilty three times each for Mr. Coffey, 62, and Mr. Daggett, 59, and once for Mr. Ricci, the two defendants in the courtroom sobbed, as did Mr. Daggett's lawyer, his cousin George Daggett, who dropped his forehead to the defense table.þþHarold Daggett's son, Dennis, who is also a longshoremen's official, jumped over a balustrade from the gallery into the well of the courtroom, apparently to embrace his father, but federal marshals ushered him from the courtroom. A short time later, outside the courthouse, as a small crowd of family members, friends and supporters reveled in the acquittals while on the sidewalk, Harold Daggett, a stout man in a dark suit, motioned toward the courthouse and demanded, ÿWhat doorway do I have to go through to get my reputation back.ÿþþMr. McMahon said the verdicts represented the jury's rejection of the government's use of mob turncoats and admitted multiple murderers, who testified against the union leaders and Mr. Ricci on the extortion conspiracy and fraud charges.þþA spokesman for the United States attorney in Brooklyn, Roslynn R. Mauskopf, said in a statement that prosecutors ÿrespect the jury's verdictÿ and ÿwill continue our vigorous efforts across the board to ensure that unions are free of fraud and corruption and operate solely for the benefit of their hardworking and dedicated rank and file members.ÿþþThe union said in a statement that the government, through the criminal case and the civil suit, had sought to perpetuate ÿan outdated image of the I.L.A. while ignoring longstanding efforts by the I.L.A. leaders to strengthen union members' rights and to eradicate any unlawful conduct.ÿþþThe union president, John Bowers, who along with Mr. Coffey, Harold Daggett and Mr. Cernadas was among five top leaders whom prosecutors in the civil case are seeking to bar from the union, said the acquittals represented ÿa wonderful day for the I.L.A.ÿþþBut investigators who worked on the case contended otherwise, insisting that the mob still holds sway over the union, controlling elections and controlling the appointments of key positions like shop stewards and hiring on the docks.þþHarold Daggett and Mr. Coffey, who were suspended with pay from their union posts after their indictments were announced on July 27, 2004, and who would have faced up to 20 years in prison if convicted, said they hoped to return to work today.þþThe union, which is based in New York and represents nearly 50,000 dock workers and other employees at three dozen ports from Maine to Texas, came to symbolize organized crime's grip on labor and its exploitation of union members and was the inspiration for the 1954 film ÿOn the Waterfront.ÿþþ
Source: NY Times
