Judge Delays Trial to Give Presser Time to Regain His Health
A federal judge on Friday postponed the racketeering and embezzlement trial of Teamsters Union President Jackie Presser, whose lawyers asked for a delay to give him more time to recover from cancer.
U.S. District Judge George White scheduled the next pretrial hearing for Feb. 16, a day after the trial was scheduled to have opened.
Defense lawyers filed a request on Jan. 7 to seek a delay, contending that Presser is too ill from cancer treatments to help the defense prepare its case.
Presser, 61, who underwent surgery for lung cancer in January, 1986, has been living in Phoenix, his lawyers said. He is still president of the nation’s largest union, which has 2 million members.
Presser and Cleveland local union officials Harold Friedman and Anthony Hughes were indicted in May, 1986, on charges of embezzling $700,000 in union funds in a payroll-padding scheme.
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