Two former members of Boston Teamsters Local 82 have been sentenced on charges of extortion and racketeering, officials said.

John Perry, 62, of Woburn, was sentenced Friday to 30 months in prison, a $12,500 fine, and one year of supervised release, according to a statement from the office of US Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz. Joseph “Jo Jo” Burhoe, 46, of Braintree, was sentenced Friday to 70 months in prison and three years of supervised release.

Click here to read more at The Boston Globe.

March 17, 2014: On Saturday, March 14, New York Local 804 President Tim Sylvester announced he’s running for Teamster General President.

Local 89 President Fred Zuckerman joined him and more than 200 Teamsters from across the region to launch Teamsters United, a coalition of officers and members committed to winning new Teamster leadership in 2016.

“It’s great to see people supporting a strong candidate like Tim Sylvester,” said Local 384 member Scott Black, who travelled in from Philadelphia to be at the meeting. “Our union needs new leadership that will be proactive and address problems, instead of sitting back in Washington D.C.”

Sylvester and Zuckerman then made it up to Worcester, Mass. the following day for another energized meeting with New England Teamsters.

Momentum is already building. Find out more about Teamsters United at www.teamstersunited.org

UPDATE: Congratulations to Local 439 on the solid organizing win at FedEx Freight yesterday, by a vote of 33-12. Welcome new FedEx Teamsters!

March 12, 2015: The Independent Review Board (IRB) has charged the former leaders of Stockton California Local 439 with a pattern of embezzlement, fraud and receiving a motorcycle from an employer.  Former Secretary Treasurer Sam Rosas and former president Armando Alonzo were charged.

The IRB’s 117-page report, issued February 27, is available here.

Both Rosas and Alonzo were narrowly voted out of office in December, and the newly-elected officers have taken the reins of the 4500 member local. So Rosas and Alonzo no longer hold union positions.

They are charged with a long list of financial shenanigans, including causing the union to pay for numerous meals, Oakland Raiders tickets, hotel rooms, bar bills, gift cards, liquor, electronics and more when there were no union records and/or no union purpose. Many expenses involved a spouse or friends, and meals and drinks at local restaurants. Some involved a gift of money and a Hawaiian vacation for a retired business agent, at union expense. The charges detail a pattern going back at least until 2008.

The charges were referred by the IRB to IBT president James Hoffa.  Rosas has been a close associate of Rome Aloise, the head the Joint Council 7 and an International vice president.  Aloise issued campaign material last October to help Rosas in his local election; it was illegally issued on Joint Council 7 stationery.

Now, it is clear that Aloise and Hoffa will drop their friend Rosas. Loyalty flows only uphill in those circles.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters has placed its local at Sikorsky Aircraft into trusteeship, accepting the recommendation of an independent review that found a systemic lack of financial controls that investigators said resulted in thousands of dollars being embezzled by a former president.

The union's failure to adequately document expenses also led to millions of dollars being spent without approvals from the executive board or members of the Local 1150, and tens of thousands spent on meals and personal expenses, according to a report from the Teamsters Independent Review Board.

Click here to read more at The Hartford Currant.

The nation’s biggest Teamsters local rigged its October election for president, a challenger in the race for the top spot charges.

Jakwan Rivers — who lost by about 1,100 votes to incumbent Gregory Floyd — said Local 237 made sure more than 5,000 ballots were ignored by deliberately not paying the bill for its post-office box.

Click here to read more at the New York Post.

November 20, 2014: A jury in Boston yesterday convicted a former member of the Hoffa administration of racketeering and extortion. His “enforcer” was convicted also, and both will be sentenced to a federal prison term in February.

John Perry, who was Hoffa’s Trade Show National Director until the IRB removed him from the union, was convicted of multiple counts, along with Joseph “Jo Jo” Burhoe, Perry’s enforcer.

Perry’s power was maintained by intimidation of members and job-rigging for his political pals. Those crimes stole money from hard working Teamsters and weakened our union.

Perry rigged hiring to get his friends and family work and punish any outspoken members

TDU members and other concerned trade show Teamsters took a stand against Perry, who headed Boston Local 82, and fought for democratic reforms and against sweetheart contracts in their union ratified by phony votes. Perry and Burhoe responded with intimidation and violence, sending one member to the hospital. Members appealed to Hoffa for help, but he replied that he would do nothing about his appointee’s corruption and violence. That struggle is reported here.   

In the recent trial, International vice president John Murphy testified that his office was in the same building as Perry’s office, and he kept Hoffa informed on a regular basis of the activity in Perry’s Local 82.

Yet Hoffa kept Perry in power.

In May 2011, TDU members’actions led the Independent Review Board (IRB) to throw Perry and Burhoe out of the Teamsters, after Hoffa tried to cover it up.

Burhoe then went to work for management. And Hoffa merged Local 82 into Local 25. 

Perry and Burhoe were convicted yesterday after a seven-week trial.

Two former Teamsters union members were convicted Wednesday in US District Court in Boston of racketeering — for using violence and threats of violence to win jobs and elections for union office.

Joseph Burhoe, 46, a former Teamsters member with a criminal history, and John Perry, 62, the former head of a local chapter, were convicted of multiple charges, including racketeering, conspiracy, conspiracy to extort businesses, and extortion. Both will be sentenced in late February.

Click here to read more at The Boston Globe.

November 20, 2014: A jury in Boston yesterday convicted a former member of the Hoffa administration of racketeering and extortion. His “enforcer” was convicted also, and both will be sentenced to a federal prison term in February.

John Perry, who was Hoffa’s Trade Show National Director until the IRB and the feds removed Perry from the union, was convicted of multiple counts, along with Joseph “Jo Jo” Burhoe, Perry’s enforcer.

TDU members and other concerned trade show Teamsters, took a stand against Perry, who headed Boston Local 82, and fought for democratic reforms and against sweetheart contracts in their union ratified by phony votes. Perry and Burhoe responded with intimidation and violence, sending one member to the hospital. Members appealed to Hoffa for help, but he replied that he would do nothing about his appointee’s corruption and violence. That struggle is reported here.   

In May 2011, TDU members’actions led the Independent Review Board (IRB) to throw Perry and Burhoe out of the Teamsters, after Hoffa tried to cover it up.

Burhoe then went to work for management. Hoffa then merged Local 82 into Local 25. 

Perry and Burhoe were convicted yesterday after a seven-week trial.