Brooklyn Landlord Abe Weider received only 4 yrs. probation on Nov. 20 for his part in a Mafia conspiracy to bribe their way into replacing the union at Weider’s real estate development. Weider faced between 3 and 4 years in prison under fed. sentencing guidelines, but U.S. Dist. Judge Leo Glasser (U.S.D.C. E.D. NY, Reagan) described Weider’s crime as “a marked deviation from an otherwise law-abiding life.”
Weider was indicted, along with 45 reputed members of five NY crime families, on Apr. 26 for attempting to use bribery to replace Local 32B-J of the Service Employees Intl. Union with a union friendly to the mob. Weider was charged with paying the $350,000 bribe because he was “petrified” at the prospect of labor unrest at Vanderveer Estates, acc. to his attny., Victor Rocco, who described Weider as the “victim” of the official taking the bribe. Asst. U.S. Attny. Paul Schoeman reminded Judge Glasser that Weider illegally fired 42 workers who spent nearly a year getting their jobs back. [New York Daily News 11/21/02]