Ex-Int’l Bhd. of Teamsters boss Ron Carey fought so hard to keep mobsters out of his union that he broke the law to do it, prosecutors will argue to a jury later this month. The bizarre “be a criminal to beat a criminal” theory will be presented when Carey goes on trial in U.S. Dist. Court in Manhattan for allegedly lying about a massive money-laundering scheme during his 1996 IBT campaign, including a $475,000 donation to the hard-left Citizen Action, which was roughly 80 times the size of the average IBT political donation. Asst. U.S. Atty. Andrew Dember claims that Carey felt he had to break the rules to keep James P. Hoffa, son of the notorious James R. Hoffa, from succeeding him as IBT president. Carey attorney Reid Weingarten promised, “They can come up with any theory they want, but he’s not getting convicted.” [N.Y. Post 8/5/01]
Carey pled not guilty Feb. 1 to federal criminal charges that he knowingly participated in the complex scheme. He was indicted Jan. 25 on seven counts of perjury and making false statements in connection with the probe of the scandal. Carey’s campaign manager, Jere Nash, and two consultants, Martin Davis and Michael Ansara, were the first defendants in the scam to plead guilty in Sept. 1997 and are awaiting sentencing.