Boilermakers trial reveals lavish spending and huge payouts. Here's what to know
Federal prosecutors detailed alleged “no-show” bank jobs, $400,000 hunting trips and $1.5 million severance packages Wednesday in the racketeering conspiracy trial of former Boilermakers union executives. Bank of Labor President Robert McCall testified that top union officials drew full-time bank salaries despite rarely showing up.
FULL STORY: KCK Boilermakers trial: ‘No-show’ bank jobs, $1.5M ‘golden parachutes’ revealed
Here are key takeaways:
- Former Boilermakers International President Newton Jones earned $498,000 a year from the union-owned Bank of Labor and ex-Secretary-Treasurer William Creeden earned $442,000, but McCall testified Jones visited the Kansas City-area bank only three or four times a year and it was “virtually impossible” for either to work the 80 hours per pay period their stubs claimed.
- The union and bank shared the cost of pheasant hunting trips to Paul Nelson Farm in South Dakota, with the last bill McCall recalled running “a little north of $400,000.” Attendees traveled by private plane, he said.
- A January 2023 board proposal would have given Jones and Creeden “golden parachutes” of $1.5 million each — 2.99 times their base compensation — if union ownership of the bank changed. The board approved it without knowing the two were under grand jury investigation.
- Jones, his wife Kateryna, Creeden and former International Vice President Lawrence McManamon are on trial after being indicted in August 2024. Three other defendants, including Jones’ son Cullen, have pleaded guilty and await sentencing in June and July.
- Under cross-examination, defense attorney Andino Reynal revealed McCall himself was identified as a target of the federal investigation in January 2024, suggesting his testimony was shaped by a desire to avoid indictment — a claim McCall strongly denied.
The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The full story in the link at the top was reported, written and edited entirely by journalists.