Mobster Didn’t Try to Run Teamsters, Williams Says
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Former Teamsters President Roy L. Williams testified today in federal court that reputed Kansas City underworld kingpin Nick Civella never tried to tell him how to run union affairs.
Williams took the stand for a third day in the trial of nine men charged with a conspiracy to gain hidden control of four Las Vegas casinos, from which they allegedly skimmed more than $2 million in the mid-1970s.
Williams, 70, suffering from emphysema and an enlarged heart, testified today that Civella only asked him to get some jobs for some of his friends and never dictated the running of the union. Williams said he did not consider the favor of providing jobs wrong.
“If I was there, I’d do it again,” Williams said.
Civella died in 1983.
Prosecutors claim that the nine reputed underworld figures used their influence in the Teamsters Union to get a $62.7-million loan for Allen R. Glick from the Teamsters Union Central States Pension Fund. Glick, a San Diego businessman, used the money to buy Las Vegas casinos, including the Fremont and Stardust, under the Argent Corp. name.
Mob Role Alleged
The federal government alleges that the skim money was split among mobsters in Las Vegas, Kansas City, Cleveland, Milwaukee and Chicago.
Williams, the first Teamsters president ever to serve as a witness for the prosecution, began testifying Wednesday afternoon. On and off the stand, Williams breathes with the aid of nasal oxygen tubes, which are connected to a nearby tank. He is taken in and out of the courtroom in a wheelchair and is flanked by U.S. marshals.
Williams was scheduled to report to prison Oct. 19 to begin a 10-year sentence for bribery but won a temporary reprieve by agreeing to cooperate with the U.S. Justice Department. He was convicted in a Chicago trial of bribing a U.S. senator.
Williams last week testified that he was paid $1,500 a month for several years for helping get two loans totaling more than $87 million approved for Argent Corp. to buy the casinos.
