Ex-Teamster Chief’s Illness Prompts Parole

WASHINGTON —  Former Teamster President Roy Williams, who testified for the government on organized crime’s influence over the union, will be paroled Jan. 13 out of concern for his faltering health, a U.S. parole official said Wednesday.

Williams, 73, suffers from emphysema and an enlarged heart. He began serving a 10-year term on Dec. 3, 1985, for attempted bribery and is confined in isolation at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Mo.

“The two considerations were his failing health and also his cooperation with the government,” said David Dorworth, chief analyst for the U.S. Parole Commission.

In a 1987 criminal trial in New York, Williams testified against Mafia boss Anthony (Fat Tony) Salerno and other organized crime figures accused of influencing Williams’ 1981 election to head the 1.7 million-member union and that of his successor, Jackie Presser, who died in June.