Two Union Officials Charged With Labor Extortion Conspiracy

Thursday, August 16, 2018

Two Indiana men are charged with labor-related extortion offenses in a three-count Indictment
unsealed today, announced Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski for the Justice
Department's Criminal Division,  U.S. Attorney Thomas L. Kirsch II for the Northern District of
Indiana,  Special Agent in Charge James Vanderberg of the U.S. Department of Labor Office of
Inspector General's Chicago Regional Office and Special Agent in Charge Grant Mendenhall of the
FBI's Indianapolis Field Office.

Thomas R. Williamson, 67, of  Schererville, Indiana  and Jeffrey R. Veach, 55, of Portage,
Indiana, were arrested earlier today and each charged in a three-count indictment filed in the
Northern District of Indiana with one count of Hobbs Act Extortion Conspiracy and two counts of
Attempted Hobbs Act Extortion.    Williamson and Veach had their initial court appearances and
arraignment earlier today before U.S. Magistrate Judge  John E. Martin  for the Northern District
of Indiana  and were released  on $20,000 unsecured bond.

According to the indictment, Williamson and Veach used threats of violence and actual violence
against non-union ironworkers in the course of their extortion plot.   The defendants allegedly
sought to extort a labor contract from "John Doe #1,"¯ who owned a steelworking company, and a
business contract from "John Doe #2,"¯ who owned a construction company.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven
guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case is being investigated by the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General and the
FBI  with the assistance of the Dyer Indiana Police Department.   Trial Attorneys Conor Mulroe and
Robert Tully of the Criminal Division's Organized Crime and Gang Section are prosecuting the
case with the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Indiana.  

