TEAMSTERS (IBT)
Illinois Boss Guilty of Accepting Bribe
Walter Hoff, ex-boss of Teamsters Local 786 in Chicago, admitted Dec.
21 to taking $16,000 in bribes from government mole John Christopher to
let Christopher's financial debts to the union slide. Hoff pleaded guilty
to two criminal counts, mail fraud and tax evasion, in exchange for having
seven charges dismissed.
In return for an $8,000 bribe in Sept. 1993 and a second $8,000 payment in May 1994, Hoff made it appear on paperwork that Christopher's companies were unionized in a way that enabled him to qualify for certain contracts. It enabled Christopher to sidestep payment of over $70,000 in union dues and other employee benefits. Before the first payoff, Hoff unwittingly hired an FBI agent posing as a Christopher business associate to sweep Local 786's offices for concealed listening devices. After the agent pretended to search the office for electronic bugs, Christopher paid Hoff the first $8,000 cash bribe in a bathroom in the building.
Before the second payment, Christopher walked into the union office of Hoff, who held up a sign that read "Don't talk." Hoff lifted his hand in the air and rubbed his fingers together, which Christopher took to be a gesture that he wanted his bribe. Christopher handed over $8,000 in cash.
Hoff is scheduled to be sentenced Mar 9 and faces 2 years in prison, but reportedly he may receive a lighter sentence because of his terminal cancer. He ran Local 786 from 1982 to 1997. [Chi. Trib. 12/22/99]
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