01262020 - News Article - 2 union officials plead guilty to charges stemming from 2016 ‘brutal’ attack against non-union workers in Dyer - Veach: Portage Parks Boards

2 union officials plead guilty to charges stemming from 2016 ‘brutal’ attack against non-union workers in Dyer
Chicago Tribune
January 26, 2020
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/ct-ptb-veach-williamson-guilty-plea-st-0125-20200124-ddsfwuqi5nh2tf7jeybedbomhq-story.html

Two union officials pleaded guilty Friday for their role in “a brutal” assault of a group of non-union ironworkers in Dyer in 2016, according to a release.

Thomas R. Williamson, 68, of Schererville, and Jeffery R. Veach, 56, of Portage, were charged in an indictment unsealed in August 2018 with one count of Hobbs Act extortion conspiracy and two counts of attempted Hobbs Act extortion. At the time, they were released on $20,000 unsecured bonds.

On Friday, both pleaded guilty to one count of extortion conspiracy, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Indiana.

According to the plea agreements, Williamson and Veach admitted that on Jan. 7, 2016, they “conspired to use actual and threatened violence to obtain contracts for Local 395” from general contractor Lagestee-Mulder and a labor contract from D5 Iron Works, two Illinois-based companies, according to the release.

Before Jan. 7, 2016, Veach and Williamson learned that D5 was doing structural ironworks for Dyer Baptist Church, “which was located in Local 395′s ‘territory,’' and the company was not signed up with Local 395, according to the release.

On Jan. 6, 2016, Williamson visited the church to talk to the D5 foreman and convince him to “sign up” with Local 395 or stop the work, according to the release.

After being told to leave the site, Williamson went across the street to the church and confronted a youth pastor for the church. Williamson told him that it was “unethical” to use non-union labor and offered to get “his guys,” according to the release.

The next morning, Williamson returned with Veach, documents said. The D5 foreman again asked the men to leave, according to the release.

Williamson then grabbed the foreman’s jacket and called him names, documents said. As they left the site, Williamson told Veach that the two of them were going to have to go “old school,” according to the release.

The two men later returned to the church with 10 Local 395 members and “immediately attacked the D5 workers and beat them with fists and loose pieces of hardwood, kicking them while they were on the ground,” according to the release.

The attack left one D5 worker with a broken jaw that required several surgeries and extended hospital stays, according to the release.

Veach is the current president of Local 395 of the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental, and Reinforcing Iron Workers based in Portage. Before his retirement, Williamson was a business agent for the union, according to the press release.

By entering guilty pleas, following federal law, Veach will forfeit his position as president. Veach and Williamson won’t be able to hold a union position for at least 13 years following any prison sentences they may serve, according to the release.

It was not immediately clear how many years in prison they will face.

Portage Mayor Sue Lynch said in a statement Friday that Veach has been removed from the park board, which removes him from the plan commission, and that City Council President Scott Williams removed Veach as his representative to the board of zoning appeals.

“The facts surrounding Jeff Veach’s plea agreement are troubling, and he will have to fact the consequences of his actions now that he has had his day in court,” Lynch said in the statement.