Federal prosecutors announced Mar. 29 the unsealing of an indictment charging Emmett Martin, Kenneth Johnson, Willie Lloyd, Bradley Pearson and Maurice Johnson with the following: 1) conspiracy to import cocaine; 2) conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine; 3) four counts of attempted possession with the intent to distribute cocaine; 4) four counts of attempt to import cocaine into the United States; and 5) one count of carrying a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime. Emmett Martin, Kenneth Johnson, Willie Lloyd, and Bradley Pearson are members of the Int’l Longshoremen Ass’n. If convicted, each defendant faces possible terms of life imprisonment and up to $4 million in fines.
These arrests are the result of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force / High Intensity Drug Tracking Area investigation conducted by the U.S. Customs Service with support from the Drug Enforcement Admin. and the Miami-Dade Police Dep’t. This investigation focused on individuals involved in the agreement to smuggle cocaine through the Port of Miami and its subsequent off-loading with the assistance of port employees. Once the containers were removed from the ships and placed on the dock, port employees would break into the containers, remove the cocaine and then smuggle the cocaine off the port in personal vehicles. [USAO S.D. Fla. 3/29/02]
ULP Charge Filed Against Labor Board
The Nat’l Labor Relations Bd Prof’l Ass’n filed an unfair labor practice charge Apr. 15 against NLRB, claiming that NLRB has engaged in “regressive bad-faith bargaining” during 18 months of negotiations over a new contract for board attorneys. In the charge, the NLRBPA said the board has withdrawn “without good cause” from its previous proposals and instead has offered “regressive proposals” with regard to a variety of contract issues, including work assignment procedures, transfers, grievance procedures, and flexible work arrangements. The charge was filed with the Federal Labor Relations Authority, the agency that handles labor-management relations within the federal government. NLRB handles unfair labor practice charges in the private sector.
The contract between the union and the board was reopened in Oct. 2000. The contract had not been comprehensively negotiated since 1989. The attorneys’ union continually had extended the contract since 1989, he said, but the parties reopened the contract when it became clear it was outdated. [BNA 4/16/02]