| Print | Close Window | AMO Currents - Posted: October 26, 2008 |
Federal judge clears incumbent AMO officials of wrongdoing in Hearn-AMC civil case; decision says testimony by convicted criminal and former AMO official was not credible
The October 24 ruling by U.S. District Judge Jose Martinez in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida was a clear-cut and crushing defeat for the plaintiffs — AMO members John “Jack” Hearn, Christopher Bartlett, John Rousselle, Timothy Harkins and Henry “Hank” Mallon, all of whom were unsuccessful candidates against incumbent AMO officials in the 2006 AMO election of officers.
Hearn, Bartlett, Rousselle, Harkins and Mallon filed the failed civil suit in February 2007.
“Judge Martinez confirmed what I and others have said for more than two years — Jack Hearn, Chris Bartlett, John Rousselle, Tim Harkins, Hank Mallon and their AMO Membership Committee had no case, no cause and no credibility,” said AMO National President Thomas Bethel, a principal defendant in the case.
“The guilty parties in USA v. McKay were identified and punished before this case was filed.” Bethel continued. “The irony here is that Hearn, Bartlett, Rousselle, Harkins and Mallon admitted in sworn pre-trial depositions that they had no evidence of illegal, unethical or inappropriate actions by me or by others now serving our union. In court, Hearn, Bartlett, Rousselle, Harkins and Mallon relied exclusively on the testimony of convicted felon and disgraced former AMO official Tom Kelly, who was characterized repeatedly in Judge Martinez’s decision as a criminal whose word and motive were not to be trusted.
“This was a case of personal and political persecution brought by five individuals who twice were unable to persuade the deep-sea, Great Lakes and inland waters AMO membership voting majority that they were fit for official positions in our union,” Bethel concluded. “It was also another opportunity for Kelly to pursue his vendetta against me and others Kelly holds responsible for his defeat for higher office in the AMO election in 2001.”
In his 25-page ruling, Judge Martinez said that Bethel neither knew of nor participated in alleged ballot rigging during the AMO elections of officers in 1993 and 1996 and in AMO membership referenda in 1994 and 1995.
In his testimony during the criminal trial of former AMO National President Michael McKay and former AMO National Secretary-Treasurer Robert McKay in 2006, Thomas Kelly said he and others had tampered with ballots to favor incumbent AMO officials and the AMO administration’s positions on referendum issues during all four union-wide votes, but Kelly did not identify Bethel among Kelly’s co-conspirators, as he did in a sworn deposition in the civil case earlier this year and during the civil trial held before Judge Martinez in July 2008 — a glaring inconsistency noted repeatedly by Judge Martinez.
In his criminal trial testimony, Kelly said a second defendant in the civil case, AMO National Deep-Sea Vice President Joseph Gremelsbacker, burned tainted ballots from the 1993 AMO election on Kelly’s instructions. But Gremelsbacker testified during both trials that he had burned ballots that were printed for but not used in the 1993 election because the name of one candidate had been misspelled.
In his ruling in the civil case, Judge Martinez said the evidence supported Gremelsbacker’s testimony. There was no evidence that Gremelsbacker participated in election fraud, Judge Martinez said.
Judge Martinez — who before trial had dismissed much of the case brought by Hearn, Bartlett, Rousselle, Harkins and Mallon — also said evidence had shown that year-end bonuses paid to Bethel, Gremelsbacker and the remaining defendants in 1998 and 1999 were awarded on merit and did not constitute illegal reimbursement by AMO to the AMO officials for personal campaign contributions made by the officials to Congressional candidates.
AMO National Great Lakes Vice President Don Cree, AMO National Assistant Vice President at Large Robert Kiefer, AMO National Executive Board Member Donald Nilsson and former AMO National Executive Vice President Daniel Smith were cleared along with Bethel and Gremelsbacker on this specific charge leveled by Hearn, Bartlett, Rousselle, Harkins and Mallon.
In addition, Judge Martinez said Bethel and the AMO executive board had fulfilled their fiduciary responsibilities to American Maritime Officers by recovering funds that were embezzled or misappropriated by Michael McKay, Robert McKay and Kelly, a former national deep-sea vice president of AMO.
Michael McKay and Robert McKay were convicted of multiple felonies after a five-week trial that concluded in January 2007. Both were sentenced to terms in federal prison.
Under an agreement reached with the U.S. Department of Justice in January 2006, Kelly pleaded guilty to a single felony count of embezzlement from AMO and was sentenced to probation.
Under a separate plea agreement in January 2006, former AMO National Executive Vice President Jerome Joseph pleaded guilty to a single felony count of mail fraud stemming from his role as a trustee of the AMO Pension, Medical, Vacation and Safety and Education Plans. Joseph was sentenced to probation.
James Lynch, a former AMO Plans and AMO employee, was convicted of multiple felonies in a separate criminal trial in March 2007. Lynch was sentenced to a term in federal prison.
Michael McKay and Robert McKay were named by Hearn, Bartlett, Rousselle, Harkins and Mallon as defendants in the civil suit, but Kelly and Joseph were not. Kelly and Joseph are now known to have collaborated secretly on campaign strategy with Hearn, Bartlett, Rousselle, Harkins, Mallon and others associated with Hearn’s AMO Membership Committee, or AMC, during the AMO election of officers in 2006.
In that election, Hearn was defeated by Michael McKay for national president, Bartlett was defeated by Bethel for national executive vice president, Rousselle was defeated by Kiefer for national assistant vice president at large, Harkins was defeated by Gremelsbacker for national vice president deep-sea and Mallon was defeated by John Hafner for AMO national inland waters executive board member.
Hafner, now serving as an AMO national executive board member at large, was named originally as a defendant in the civil case, but his name was withdrawn prior to the trial before Judge Martinez in July 2008. American Maritime Officers — the union itself — was also named and then dropped as a defendant in the civil case.
In a limited re-run election of AMO officers in 2008 — an election supervised by the U.S. Department of Labor — Hearn was defeated by Bethel for national president, Bartlett defeated Smith for national executive vice president. Kiefer defeated Rousselle for national assistant vice president at large, Gremelsbacker defeated Harkins for national deep-sea vice president, and Hafner defeated Mallon for national inland waters executive board member.
“Judge Martinez’s clear, unequivocal ruling brings an end to the lingering controversies spawned by USA v. McKay,” Bethel said. “Can we all move on now as the nation’s largest and strongest union of merchant marine officers?”
| Copyright © American Maritime Officers, All Rights Reserved |