One week after a bombshell federal indictment accusing Queens Assemblymember and president of the country's largest municipal labor group Brian McLaughlin of stealing from the unions he represented and constituents he served, details continue to emerge surrounding the extent and nature of the charges levied against him.
According to the indictment, which the feds served McLaughlin, 54, with on Tuesday, October 17, he now faces charges that include racketeering, money laundering, conspiracy and bank fraud and could potentially face more than 500 years in prison.
McLaughlin, who represented parts of Flushing, Whitestone, Fresh Meadows, Flushing Heights, Hillcrest, Briarwood, Kew Gardens Hills, Jamaica, Richmond Hill and Ozone Park in the Assembly since 1992, pleaded not guilty to the charges at the United States District Court in Manhattan on October 17, but his attorney has not issued any comments since.
McLaughlin, who in addition to his position as an Assemblymember, served as the President of the New York City Central Labor Council (CLC) - an umbrella organization of unions - representing more than 1.5 million working men and women.
According the indictment, McLaughlin stole money the J Division of Local 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), and used those funds for his personal expenses. In addition, he allegedly created a fake position in the CLC and funneled portions of that salary back into his personal accounts.
One day after the indictment, the CLC voted to suspend the paid leave of absence McLaughlin had been granted as president.
“While respecting Mr. McLaughlin's presumption of innocence, the board believes this action is appropriate at this time,” the Council said in a statement.
Another organization the indictment alleges McLaughlin stole from is the Electchester Athletic Association - a non-profit established more than 50 years ago to develop youth sports in the Electchester area.
Over the course of 10 years, McLaughlin allegedly misappropriated more than $100,000 in funds that were supposed to go to the Electchester Little League and used them for his personal use. The indictment highlights a conversation McLaughlin had with one of the union officers involved with the little league, disgusted that the funds were being used for the sports team.
“All that – – – money, he's – – – spending on other stuff, that ain't his money . . . that's mine.”
Parents in the area are outraged by the nature of charges.
“That's ridiculous, there are not many places to play around here, and he is taking money earmarked for kids to learn baseball for his personal gain,” said one resident who lives in Electchester and has three children who played in the league.
CHARGES – Maximum Sentence per count
2 Counts of Racketeering…………………….20 years
12 Counts of Mail Fraud, Wire Fraud………20 years
3 Counts of Money Laundering………………20 years
10 Counts Violating the Taft-Hartley Act…5 years
1 Count Violating the Travel Act…………….5 years
12 Counts of Conspiracy……………………….5 years
2 Counts of Bank Fraud,
False Statements to Lender…………………30 years
Little League's season in doubt
BY PETE DAVIS
His indictments may have stolen baseball from the kids.
After the federal indictment alleging that Queens Assemblymember Brian McLaughlin stole nearly $100,000 from the Electchester Athletic Association, the Little League was forced to shut down.
“There is no more league,” said Leonard Waxman, known to the community as “Lenny from the Little League,” who has volunteered as a tee-ball coach in Electchester for the past 26 years.
Waxman, who is retired from Local 3, said he believes the leagues' funds were frozen as part of the federal investigation surrounding McLaughlin, but he said volunteers are already working to restart the leagues with help from the Local 3 Union officials.
“We don't want it to end,” Waxman said. “You can't victimize the victims [the kids] anymore.”
For 26 years, Waxman spent his Saturday nights cleaning up the blacktop of the P.S. 200 schoolyard so the tee-ball teams could practice there Sunday morning. When Waxman found out about the federal indictment last week, he said he was devastated.
“If he did what [they say] he did, it's a horrific thing,” he said. “The kids are the victims. If he did it, he should be ashamed of himself.”
Waxman said that he and Peggy Hackett from Building 3 in the Electchester complex ran the day-to-day aspects of the league, but were never involved with the financial or political aspects of the organization.
However, throughout his years coaching Little League teams, Waxman said the children always had what they needed including equipment and uniforms and celebrated the end of the season with a picnic in the park where they received trophies.
The Electchester Little League is within District 26, which also includes leagues from Mid-Queens, Fresh Meadows, Little Neck, Douglaston, College Point and Forest Hills, but it predominantly serves children under 10-years-old.
Waxman said that they do have one or two older travel teams, but the lack of teams potentially creates a problem for parents who have older children. Under official Little League rules, players cannot play in a league outside of the boundaries designated by their place of residence.
“We get a lot of people from the Electchester area that go to Forest Hills and Bayside because of the boundaries,” said Bob Reid, who has been President of the Bayside Little League since 1992.
Reid said that an additional $100,000 in funding, the amount allegedly embezzled, spread throughout a number of years, could have provided the league with opportunities to expand their program and offer more teams.
Although the Little League season does not begin until April, Waxman said that registration for the year usually takes place in February, and he is optimistic the community will pull together to salvage next season.
“We'll get it done,” Waxman said. “There are a lot of good people around. We have great, great volunteers.
