DAN HERBECK

July 27, 1996

A hearing on allegations of organized-crime involvement by some members of Laborers Local 210 will begin Monday, and some of the participants are upset that the proceeding will be held in secret.

Former Local 210 business manager Ronald M. Fino is expected to be the key witness in the hearing, which will be held in Samuel's Grande Manor in Clarence.

The hearing will focus on accusations by the Laborers International Union of North America that 28 longtime members of the local -- including Joseph Todaro Jr., Leonard Falzone and Frank "Butchie Bifocals" BiFulco -- are either organized-crime members or associates.

The international said last month that it is taking disciplinary action against the 28 as part of a nationwide effort -- monitored by the federal government -- to push Mafia influences out of the union.

The international said it wants to remove all 28 men from the union for allegedly engaging in "barred conduct," including dealings with organized crime.

Fino, at least two former FBI agents and several other people are expected to testify in the hearing, which could last two weeks or longer.

Hearing officer Peter Vaira said Friday that only direct participants in the hearing would be allowed to be present. The public, the news media and Local 210 members who are not directly involved will be barred, he said.

His decision and a full transcript of the hearing will be available for public viewing later, Vaira said.

"It's my policy to close the hearing, and it's for the protection of the people who are accused," he said. "We don't want the raw testimony going out in the news media while the hearing is under way."

The ruling angered Peter Capitano, a former business manager of Local 210 who is one of the accused, and Joseph V. Sedita, attorney for Victor Sansanese, who also is among the accused.

Sedita said Vaira turned down his formal application to have the hearing opened to the public.

"They made these charges in public; they called me a mobster," Capitano said. "Now, they're giving all their so called proof in private. Even my own family can't be there to hear what these paid liars have to say."

"We think it's outrageous to conduct these proceedings in the dark," Sedita said. "We want the public to have full access to what is going on there.

"The hearing officer may say he's is doing it for my client's protection, but I want to make it clear that we don't want that protection."