Former union head indicted for racketeering (Did Luskin remove him?)

BOSTON -- The former head of a Quincy-based tunnel workers union was charged Friday with embezzling $25,000 in union funds over an eight-year period, according to federal prosecutors.

Scott Boidi, 46, of Pembroke, was charged with mail fraud, embezzlement, distribution of drugs, and witness tampering, according to a federal racketeering indictment unsealed Friday.

Boidi is the former business manager of Tunnel Workers Local 88, whose members have worked on most major tunnel projects, including the Big Dig. He was scheduled for an initial appearance Friday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Boston.

Boidi's alleged crimes took place between 1994 and 2002, the indictment said. He was elected business manager -- with duties including collecting fees and placing members in jobs -- in 1991.

The grand jury indictment alleges Boidi wrote himself a check in the amount of $16,148 in union funds in October 2001.

He allegedly embezzled $7,500 in January 2002, and spent union funds in the amount of $1,800 in 2001 for a rental car for personal use.

Boidi allegedly distributed cocaine between January 2000 to June 2002, and allegedly intimidated a grand jury witness in June 2002.

There was no phone listing for Boidi in Pembroke and he could not be reached immediately for comment.

A message left for the union was not immediately returned.

Boidi served 30 days in jail in 2003 for assaulting a union member two years earlier. He and two other men, including a heavyweight boxer, kicked and punched a Quincy tunnel worker.