Justice Finally Served After Carpenters Union Boss Co-Conspiracy Schemes

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This isn’t your typical union funds embezzlement case. Two Carpenters Union bosses, Local 157 Vice President John DeFalco and Local 926 President Salvatore Tagliaferro, teamed up in order to sell union property and union members’ personal information in exchange for more money.

This has been a multi-year ordeal. Starting June 25, 2019, the two union bosses were indicted on a shocking number of charges. Then in October of 2020, DeFalco pleaded guilty.

Tagliaferro, however, went to trial in April of 2021. And after 5 days, he was found guilty of all charges. You can read more about the trial here. Following the trial, he was then sentenced to 5 years in prison in September 2021. You can read the details of his sentencing here.

Then finally, in October of 2022, it all came to a head and DeFalco heard his sentencing as well. He must now serve three years of supervised release. This is a drastically softer sentencing than what Tagliaferro received, likely because DeFalco chose to plead guilty instead of going to trial. However, the damage was still done. Hard working employees still suffered at the hands of these two criminals.

From the Department of Labor:

On October 4, 2022, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), John DeFalco, former Vice President of Carpenters Local 157 (located in New York, N.Y.), was sentenced to three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $148,213 in restitution as well as $149,735 in forfeiture. […]

On October 27, 2020, DeFalco pleaded guilty to conspiracy, conversion of union assets, honest services wire fraud, witness tampering, obstruction of justice, false statements, and distribution of oxycodone, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 371; 29 U.S.C. 501(c) and 18 U.S.C. 2; 18 U.S.C. 1343, 1346 and 2; 18 U.S.C. 1512 (b)(1) and 2; 18 U.S.C. 1512(b)(2)(A) and 2; 18 U.S.C. 1001; and 21 U.S.C. 812, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(C).

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

All told, the two union boss criminals must pay a total of $739,413 in restitution and forfeiture. But is that enough for justice to be served? Union boss corruption is an ongoing problem. We see tragic case after case of innocent workers being taken advantage of, their hard-earned union funds being embezzled and going straight into the pockets of greedy union bosses. This is a major issue that America’s workers should not have to be beholden to.


To support our cause, and help end union corruption, go here to donate.

To read more, please visit the DOL site here.

To stay up to date on Criminal Union Corruption, check out our 2022 U.S. DOL Criminal LMRDA Enforcement Actions page here.

And to see the previous union corruption case, go here.


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