Defendants Accepted Dozens of Bribes to Corruptly Influence the Construction Industry at the Expense of Labor Unions and Their Members
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Raymond A. Tierney, Suffolk County District Attorney, announced today that JAMES CAHILL, former President of the New York State Building and Construction Trades Council, was sentenced to 51 months in prison for accepting bribes and illegal cash payments from a non-union construction contractor (“Employer-1”) while serving as a union officer. Union officers CHRISTOPHER KRAFT, PATRICK HILL, MATTHEW NORTON, WILLIAM BRIAN WANGERMAN, KEVIN MCCARRON, JEREMY SHEERAN, a/k/a “Max,” ANDREW MCKEON, ROBERT EGAN, SCOTT ROCHE, and ARTHUR GIPSON have previously been sentenced for related conduct by U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon, who imposed today’s sentence.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney said: “James Cahill repeatedly chose to enrich himself at the expense of the hard-working men and women whose interests he had a sworn duty to protect, and his sentence to a substantial term in federal prison should serve as a message to all others who would consider engaging in similar betrayals of trust. I want to thank the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York for their collaboration in this investigation, and for their efforts in obtaining this just result.”
According to the allegations in the Indictment, statements made in court, and court filings:
JAMES CAHILL was the President of the New York State Building and Construction Trades Council (the “NYS Trades Council”), which represents over 200,000 unionized construction workers, a member of the Executive Council for the New York State American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (the “NYS AFL-CIO”), and formerly a union representative of the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada (the “UA”). During the charged conspiracy from about October 2018 to October 2020, CAHILL accepted approximately $44,500 in bribes from Employer-1, as well as other benefits, including home appliances and free labor on CAHILL’s vacation home. As part of his guilty plea, CAHILL acknowledged having previously accepted at least approximately $100,000 of additional bribes from Employer-1 in connection with CAHILL’s union positions. As the leader of the conspiracy, CAHILL introduced Employer-1 to many of the other defendants, while advising Employer-1 that Employer-1 could reap the benefits of being associated with the unions without actually signing union agreements or employing union workers.
KRAFT, HILL, NORTON, WANGERMAN, MCCARRON, SHEERAN, and MCKEON were Business Agents, EGAN was the Secretary-Treasurer, and ROCHE was the Business Agent At Large of the Local 638 of the UA (“Local 638”). GIPSON was a Business Agent of the Local Union 200 of the UA (“Local 200”). Each of these defendants accepted thousands and, in some cases, tens of thousands of dollars of cash bribes from Employer-1, a contractor who had projects and potential projects within the jurisdiction of Local 638 and Local 200.
All 11 defendants accepted cash from Employer-1 — usually stuffed in envelopes that Employer-1 handed off inside the restrooms of restaurants. During the meetings at which the payments were made, Employer-1 repeatedly requested favorable action from Local 638 and/or Local 200, including the following: (i) that the relevant union would support Employer-1’s bids on various projects, (ii) that the union would consider signing Employer-1 to labor agreements that Employer-1 regarded to be favorable (including agreements that would pay union workers lower rates than their experience merited), and (iii) that the union would permit Employer-1 to falsely claim to developers that Employer-1 employed union workers. Employer-1 contracted to work on — or would bid on — projects that otherwise could have employed union workers belonging to Local 638 and/or Local 200. At the time Employer-1 was bribing the defendants, Employer-1’s business employed workers who were not members of Local 638 and/or Local 200 but would have been eligible for membership.
A chart containing the names, offenses of conviction, and sentences imposed by Judge McMahon is below.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the Special Agents and investigators within the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
Defendant | Statute of Conviction | Sentence |
JAMES CAHILL | Honest Services Fraud Conspiracy | Sentenced on May 18, 2023, to 51 months in prison and $150,000 fine |
CHRISTOPHER KRAFT | Honest Services Fraud Conspiracy | Sentenced on December 12, 2022, to 18 months in prison and $10,000 fine |
PATRICK HILL | Honest Services Fraud Conspiracy | Sentenced on December 19, 2022, to 27 months in prison and $10,000 fine |
MATTHEW NORTON | Taft-Hartley Act Violation (Felony) | Sentenced on December 13, 2022, to three years’ probation and $10,000 fine |
WILLIAM BRIAN WANGERMAN | Taft-Hartley Act Violation (Felony) | Sentenced on April 12, 2023, to four years’ probation and $10,000 fine |
KEVIN MCCARRON | Taft-Hartley Act Violation (Misdemeanor) | Sentenced on May 10, 2023, to 60 days in prison |
JEREMY SHEERAN | Taft-Hartley Act Violation (Felony) | Sentenced on February 8, 2023, to two years’ probation and $10,000 fine |
ANDREW MCKEON | Taft-Hartley Act Violation (Felony) | Sentenced on March 14, 2023, to two years’ probation and $10,000 fine |
ROBERT EGAN | Taft-Hartley Act Violation (Felony) | Sentenced on March 14, 2023, to three years’ probation and $10,000 fine |
SCOTT ROCHE | Taft-Hartley Act Violation (Misdemeanor) | Sentenced on December 6, 2022, to two years’ probation and $10,000 fine |
ARTHUR GIPSON | Taft-Hartley Act Violation (Felony) | Sentenced on May 3, 2023, to 60 days in prison and $4,000 fine |
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