National union president arrested in Avon, Ohio

WASHINGTON (AP) — The president of a national railroad employees union was arrested at his Ohio home on Tuesday and charged with bribery.

Edward Rodzwicz, who heads the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, is accused of soliciting and accepting $20,000 in bribes from a St. Louis lawyer.

In exchange, prosecutors say, Rodzwicz allowed the lawyer to remain on a list of attorneys approved to handle injury cases for union members.

That attorney was supposed to be removed from the list because of alleged ethical violations.

The attorney, who is not identified in court papers, informed officials at the Labor Department’s office of inspector general as soon as he was contacted by Rodzwicz, according to a complaint. The attorney then cooperated with Labor officials as they investigated.

The complaint alleges that Rodzwicz accepted a $10,000 cash payment from the attorney April 28 in Las Vegas.

After sending a letter allowing the attorney to keep the designation, Rodzwicz accepted a second $10,000 payment in Kansas City, Mo., on Sept. 16, according to prosecutors.

Federal agents arrested Rodzwicz on Tuesday at his home in Avon, Ohio.

A criminal complaint was filed against him last week in federal district court in St. Louis, but was suppressed until the arrest.

If convicted, Rodzwicz faces up to 15 years in prison and possible fines up to $500,000.

In a statement, Daniel Petrole, the Labor Department’s acting inspector general, called the allegations “a serious breach of the union members’ trust.”

The railroad union has 55,000 members nationwide and is a division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Rodzwicz became president in March 2008.

Teamsters spokeswoman Leigh Strope said the union had just learned of the charges and would have no immediate comment.

The Teamsters union has operated under federal oversight since 1989. Under a federal consent decree, government-appointed monitors have worked to investigate and root out mob corruption from the union.