Federal prosecutors are considering a civil racketeering lawsuit that would seek control of the 65,000-member International Longshoremen's Association, a union they contend is riddled with corruption and under the sway of two powerful mob clans, officials said yesterday.þþSeveral law enforcement officials said prosecutors had already begun work on the lawsuit in the hopes that, combined with two pending criminal indictments in Brooklyn, it would finally help end organized crime's control of the waterfront. Union officials declined to comment yesterday on the criminal indictments or the prospect of a civil suit.þþThe indictments, one unsealed on Tuesday against the man accused of being the Gambino family boss and another earlier this year against the man prosecutors have identified as the head of the Genovese family, charge that the two groups plundered and corrupted waterfront locals and businesses.þþBut the new charges on Tuesday and the lawsuit being prepared against the longshoremen's union also underscore the mob's resilience in industries repeatedly investigated by the authorities. From waterfront corruption to new schemes like pirating satellite television signals, the mob has endured, despite significant achievements against all five crime families, officials said.þþThe indictments on Tuesday against two of John J. Gotti's brothers, his nephew and 14 others charge that the Gambino family installed an associate in a top position of the international's executive council and controlled two of the union's chapters, Local 1814 and Local 1. The Genovese case in January charged that the crime family infiltrated locals in Florida and New Jersey.þþOne official said a third case charging control of a waterfront local, brought in March by state prosecutors in New Jersey, would also probably be part of any civil action.þþJim McNamara, a spokesman for the International Longshoremen's Association, said yesterday that after the criminal charges were announced on Tuesday, John Bowers, the union's president, called a meeting of the executive council to discuss the charges. But Mr. Bowers had no comment on the criminal charges or the possible civil case, Mr. McNamara said. The international is an umbrella group for 330 waterfront locals, he said.þþA spokesman for Alan Vinegrad, the interim United States attorney in Brooklyn, declined to comment.þþThe case attracted interest because those who told prosecutors they were victims included not only dockworkers and businessmen, but also the actor Steven Seagal and the chairman of Staten Island's Conservative Party, Carmine F. Ragucci, whose conduct also came under scrutiny during the three-year inquiry.þþMr. Ragucci, a supporter of Borough President James P. Molinaro of Staten Island, ran the Howland Hook Container Terminal in Staten Island until last June. State and federal grand juries examined the terminal's finances, several officials said, but no charges have yet been brought. Mr. Ragucci did not return calls seeking comment.þ
Source: NY Times
