A Manhattan union boss who racked up thousands of dollars for hotel rooms in Brooklyn pled guilty Oct. 17 to $3,000 larceny charge and agreed to a sentence of five years probation. Al Cannizzo also agreed to pay $20,000 in restitution to his union, AFSCME Dist. Council 37. Cannizzo was president of AFSCME Local 1508. A union disciplinary panel accused Cannizzo in Feb. 2000 of spending more than $100,000 improperly for hotel rooms, repairs to his personal cars, his personal telephone bills, dry-cleaning, and shoe repair. [Newsday (N.Y.), N.Y. Times 10/18/00]
Three Local 1549 Bosses Plead Guilty
Three more officials of AFSCME Dist. Council 37 have pled guilty to plundering union funds for vacation cruises and other personal use. Lionel Scott, Mary Wilson and Eugene Bruno all pled guilty Oct. 11 in Manhattan to larceny charges. All were associated with Local 1549. The guilty pleas in this set of indictments leaves ex-Local 1549 president Al Diop as the only defendant.
The indictments involved the use of union expense funds for personal use, and were not directly related to other larceny indictments or the rigging of a contract ratification vote with the city. The three had been scheduled to go on trial with Diop later this month, but abruptly agreed to plead guilty before N.Y. Justice William Leibovitz. Scott agreed to a sentence of 1.5 to 4.5 years in prison for grand larceny; Wilson to 2 to 6 years for grand larceny; and Bruno to 3 years probation for a misdemeanor attempted grand larceny. [Newsday (N.Y.) 10/13/00]
DC37 Boss Sentenced to Prison
Martin Lubin, the second-in-command of AFSCME Dist. Council 37’s was sentenced to 1 to 3 years in prison Oct. 5 for rigging a contract vote to ensure passage. Justice Bonnie Wittner of State Supreme Court in Manhattan turned down a prosecution recommendation that Lubin get the maximum of 7 years in prison. Lubin was convicted in July 2000 on forgery and related charges stemming from a rigged ratification vote in 1995-96.[Newsday (N.Y.) 10/6/00]