Construction Laborers Union
Leaders Linked to Gambling
By Ted Dempsey
May 28, 1969
Elements of organized crime have infiltrated the Hartford based
Local 230, Construction and General Laborers Union. The Hartford Times
has learned. Several of the union's officers have been convicted for
bookmaking (accepting bets) and the union strongman has been linked in
federal court testimony to La Cosa Nostra, the Mafia. More attention has been given in
recent weeks to the Operating Engineers, the union that runs cranes an other power
equipment. Their business agent, Elwood L. (Sonny ) Metz Jr., publicly asked his
membership's support in ousting gang infiltrators.
But intensive investigation by The Times shows the Laborers Union
- the men who once carried bricks on hods, but now do a variety of relatively unskilled
construction jobs-also have a problem
THE CONVICTED bookies who are listed include:
The secretary-treasurer of the union, Michael R. Belasano of
Manchester, considered the head of the union, has been linked to the Raymond Patriarca,
now imprisoned and reputed head of the New England Mafia.
IT WAS testimony in U.S.
District Court in Providence, R.I., that sparked The Times' probe of the Laborers Union.
In that testimony, FBI agents described a "wiretap" on Patriarca's telephone
Feb. 17, 1965. Although none of the principals in the tapped conversation
were identified for the record, Mike Belasano, then union representative of the Laborers
Union in Hartford, figured prominently.
The federal report stated that Belasano "apparently only
hires members with criminal records."
One of the men in the overheard conversation,
according to the FBI, was a contractor who said the union hiring hall was not sending men
to his Connecticut construction site and that he was "suffering because of this,
laborwise." Patriarca, according to the FBI report, said he would
"assist him is this regard."
MICHAEL BELASANO has been with the Laborers Union
for nearly 20 years an now controls the operation. In 1959, when the U.S.
Department of Labor first began checking into the status of unions nationally, Belasano,
then the business agent, reported drawing a salary of $10,070. His salary in the last
decade has more than doubled to about $22,000 according to reports.
An ex-prize fighter, Belasano is known to associate with many
persons on the fringes or involved in organized crime in Connecticut and Massachusetts. He
is also president of the Connecticut District Laborers Council, a health
and welfare fund for the union, which pays him about $600 annually.
In recent years, Mike Belasano has spent little time at the union
hall and is usually contacted by telephone for major decisions. He
reportedly spends his summers at the Connecticut shore and is seen
nightly in a number of expensive restaurants in and near Old Saybrook.
HIS BROTHER, Tommy, who quit school in the eighth
grade, is overseeing the state operation. He draws more than $12,000 a year from the union
funds. He has four convictions for poolselling and policy operations
between 1959 and 1961 but never actually served a jail term.
In his last arrest in 1961, Hartford vice squad detectives
answered the telephone at his home 22 times in a 40-minute period with persons wishing to
place bets. Police also reported more than 500 toll
calls in a two month period to Boston, Massachusetts. At this time, records indicate that
Tommy was a union member serving as a delegate.
He was employed as a shop steward during the construction o
Constitution Plaza, earning $240 a week. It was during this time that
Tommy was caught with his hard hat off. In it, police found evidence of a numbers
operation and he was subsequently convicted.
LECONCHE, who is close to the union leadership, has at least four arrests for bookmaking and at least two convictions. He
is listed as a general foreman with a major construction firm in the
Hartford City Directory. However, the firm said he no longer employed there.
He was organizer of a testimonial dinner for Michael Belesano in
November 19 67, attended by more than 600 persons at the Hartford
Hilton. A number of persons involved in organized crime reportedly attended. The tickets
sold for $12 per person and contractors were asked to purchase them in lots of 10 tickets.
The speaker was Congressman Emilo Q. Daddario. There was numerous tributes to Belesano at
the Bagdad Restaurant in Farmington. Tickets, which numbered more than
500, reportedly sold $10 a person. Following the dinner, LeConche was arrested for
allegedly shooting the entertainer. It was listed as "horse play" in newspapers
accounts at the time. LeConche draws a small salary while serving as
vice-president.
DELGAIZO, the sergeant-at-arms has a 20-year
association with the union. During the time, he has had five arrests for
bookmaking in the Hartford area. His last arrest was last year at his home in West
Hartford. He is known to have operated a restaurant on Franklin Avenue and has also held
down construction jobs that he reports are paying him more than $300 a week. He is also a shop steward, according to his reports.
The union has repeatedly declined to discuss aspects involving it
personnel.