DATELINE: MIAMI July 11,
1982
FBI agents are reportedly investigating
charges a federal juror was paid $200,000 to vote for the acquittal
of reputed Chicago mob leader Anthony "Big Tuna" Accardo
and two co defendants in a labor racketeering trial.
Agents in Miami and Washington
began the probe last month when two informants with close ties
to the Laborers International Union told them a man on the jury
was bribed, the Miami Herald reported in its early Monday edition.
The informants reportedly said
the man was paid to vote for the acquittal of Accardo, Laborers
International Union president Angelo Fosco and former union official
Terrence O'Sullivan.
All three were acquitted last
month by a Miami federal jury of labor racketeeering charges.
Another eight co-defendants in the case were found guilty of conspiring
to bilk the Laborers union of $2 million in an insurance kickback
scheme.
The allegations of bribery
prompted Stanley Marcus, the U.S. Attorney for south Florida,
to notify U.S. District Judge C. Clyde Atkins of the investigation
July 1, said the newspaper, quoting unnamed courthouse sources.
Marcus and other Justice Department
officials refused to comment on the investigation.
Attorneys for Fosco, Accardo
and O'Sullivan called the allegations "outrageous,"
"a bunch of nonsense" and unworthy of comment. "This is the first I've heard of such allegations," said Carl Walsh, a Chicago lawyer
who represents Accardo. "It has no foundation. The verdict
just shows there was a total lack of evidence against my client."
The FBI informants alleged
organized crime figures from New England paid the bribe with the
understanding the juror would push for acquittal of Accardo, Fosco,
O'Sullivan, and south Florida union officials John Giardiello
and Salvatore Tricario, said the newspaper.
One man on the jury held out
for the acquittal of Giardiello and Tricario during 3 weeks of
jury deliberation, said several jurors. The jurors said the man
also voted for the acquittal of Accardo, Fosco and O'Sullivan
along with other jurors.
The investigation is the second
into allegations a defendant in the labor racketeering case offered
bribes.
FBI agents last year began
an investigation that reputed Florida mob boss Santo Trafficante
Jr. offered to pay U.S. District Judge Alcee Hastings to dismiss
the charges brought against him in the case.
Trafficante has been granted
a request to receive a separate trial on the labor racketeering
charges because he is in ill health.
Judge Hastings and long-time
friend William Borders Jr. later were indicted on bribery conspiracy
charges unrelated to the labor racketeering trial. Borders was
convicted while Hastings is fighting his indictment with appeals.
Federal investigators, meanwhile, are continuing their investigation into the allegation Trafficante offered Hastings a bribe and have notified Trafficante they plan to subpoena him to appear before a federal grand jury.