in March)
Official guilty of taking illegal payments spared prison term
By Robert Gavin
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE
Saturday, April 9, 2005
Page A4
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Former vice president of Local 15, International Union of Operating
Engineers, receives 3 years' probation
A high-ranking construction union official who took illegal payments he
described as "Christmas gifts" from a Staten Island contractor was spared
prison time yesterday.
Thomas McGuire, 69, the former vice president of Local 15, International
Union of Operating Engineers, was sentenced to three years' probation during
an appearance before U.S. District Judge Sterling Johnson in Brooklyn
federal court.
McGuire, of Pearl River, Rockland County, also must pay $36,000 in
forfeiture to the federal government.
He had been the top official at Local 15 from 1975 until his indictment. The
union represents thousands of city construction workers and stationary
engineers.
McGuire confessed to taking a combined total of $36,000 in illegal
gratuities from representatives of two construction companies between 1989
and 2001. Both exchanges took place in Queens.
In a statement to the judge, McGuire called the payments "Christmas gifts."
He identified one of the companies as E.G. Clemente Contracting Corp., which
has a Charleston location and has done water main installations on the
Island.
McGuire identified the other company as LaQuila Construction. Island mob
turncoats tied LaQuila to organized crime while testifying last year against
convicted Gambino crime family boss Peter Gotti.
During his sentencing yesterday, McGuire apologized to the court, his family
and the union, from which he has since retired.
McGuire, also known as "Thomas Maguire," had faced up to five years in
prison. He was "pleased with the result" of his court appearance, said his
attorney, Michael Considine.
McGuire was rounded up two years ago, when federal prosecutors targeted mob
corruption at construction projects around the city. At least 21 defendants,
including reputedly high-ranking members of the Colombo crime family, have
been convicted.
In addition to the charges against McGuire, prosecutors accused reputed
mobsters and allegedly corrupt union members with arranging no-show jobs and
other scams at job sites including PS 58 in New Springville; Staten Island
University Hospital; the Bayonne Bridge and Richmond County Bank Ballpark at
St. George, the home of the Staten Island Yankees.
Robert Gavin is a news reporter for the Advance. He may be reached at
gavin@siadvance.com.
Subject: McGuire Operating Engineers Union Sentencing
Rumor has it that Thomas P. McGuire Operating Engineers Union Local 15
has received 3 years probation and $35000 fine. This is the sweetest
deal in history. One cannot calculate what his behavior cost the regular
members of Local 15, in the forms of employment.
The International Union in Washington, DC., that McGuire was part of,
has not had a contested election in more than 50 years and not one
dissenting vote by any member of the executive board. The corruption
goes unchecked and the Union does not have any small element of
democracy on the national level, as well as Locals 14, 15.