2003-07-10 -- Lore, Joseph -- Sentencing -- News Release

Bayonne Hiring Agent Sentenced to 70 Months Imprisonment for Embezzling More Than $750,000 from Union

TRENTON - A former hiring agent at International Terminal Operating Company was sentenced to 70 months imprisonment today for his role in an embezzlement scheme that victimized Local 1588 of the International Longshoreman Association in Bayonne, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

U.S. District Judge Mary L. Cooper also ordered Joseph Lore, 64, of Bayonne, to serve three years of supervised release and pay $821,000 in restitution, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney V. Grady O'Malley.

After a month and a half-long trial in 2001, Lore was convicted on Dec. 17, 2001 of conspiring to receive more than $750,000 in union funds as a result of a multi-faceted scheme to skim union monies between 1991 and 1999.

Also convicted of conspiracy during the trial was Denise Bohn, of Bayonne, Local 1588's office manager; Joseph Pelliccia, of Bayonne, Local 1588's vice president; William Hurley, of Jersey City, a Local 1588 business agent; and Thomas Rackley of Edison, Local 1588 environmental representative. Bohn will be sentenced by Judge Cooper on July 17. The three other defendants will be sentenced by Judge Cooper on July 30.

The main source of the embezzled funds was a salary diversion scheme where one-half of the salaries of all officers and select union employees were diverted in cash to Lore on a weekly basis over a nine-year period. Lore received as much as $2,000 per week during that time period.

Testimony at trial revealed that the conspiracy also involved Lore and Bohn receiving kickbacks from service providers to Local 1588, who were permitted by Lore and Bohn to improperly inflate their costs, to the detriment of Local 1588 and its members. The Indictment also accused Bohn of using the union's credit cards improperly. Lore was also convicted of three counts of embezzlement for receiving the diverted salaries of Pelliccia, Hurley and Rackley during the time frame of the conspiracy; Bohn was also convicted of three counts of embezzlement for receiving kickbacks from a service provider during 1994.

Lore was also found guilty of filing a false disability claim with his employer for the purpose of obtaining payment under the Longshoremen and Harbor Workers Compensation Act. The jury found that Lore falsely stated he was injured at his place of employment and sustained head injuries so severe as to render him permanently disabled, entitling him to a weekly benefit for life.

Christie credited Special Agents of the Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General, under the direction of James Vanderberg, Assistant Regional Inspector General, with bringing the case. He also credited the New Jersey State Police, under the direction of Superintendent Joseph R. Fuentes, the NY\NJ Waterfront Commission, as well as the Bayonne Police Department, Special Investigations Unit, under the direction of Chief of Police Frank Pawlowski.

The Government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney V. Grady O'Malley, Senior Litigation Counsel, U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark.

-end-

Defense Counsel:

Lore: Daniel Welsh, Esq. Jersey City

Bohn: Michael Koribanics, Esq. Clifton

Pelliccia: Thomas Cammarata, Esq. Jersey City

Hurley: Leonard Meyerson, Esq. Jersey City

Rackley: John Hughes, Esq. Bayonne