Edward M. Yarbrough
United States Attorney
Paul M. O’Brien
Eli J. Richardson
Assistant United States Attorneys
(615) 736-5151
CALVIN HULLET, EMPLOYEE OF UNION LOCAL, INDICTED ON BRIBERY, MISAPPROPRIATION OF UNION FUNDS AND OTHER CHARGES
Nashville, TN, March 12, 2008– A five-count federal indictment was returned today against Calvin Edward Hullett in connection with alleged illegal surveillance activities at the Fraternal Order of Police summer youth camp in Mount Juliet, announced Edward M. Yarbrough, the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, My Harrison, Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Memphis Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Gordon S. Heddell, Inspector General of the United States Department of Labor, and Mark Gwyn, Director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI).
The indictment, returned by a federal grand jury in Nashville, relates to competing union locals, Nashville-based Local 327 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) and Andrew Jackson Lodge 5 of the Fraternal Order of Police, as well as the Andrew Jackson Police Youth (the “FOP Camp”), a summer camp for underprivileged children run by members of Andrew Jackson Lodge 5. As alleged in the Indictment, in 2006, IBT-Local 327 replaced FOP-Andrew Jackson Lodge 5 as the collective bargaining agent for Metropolitan Nashville (MNPD) law-enforcement personnel, but a movement thereafter arose movement arose to decertify IBT-Local 327 and to make FOP-Andrew Jackson Lodge 5 once again the collective bargaining agent.
The indictment alleges that from not later than late March, 2007 until July 14, 2007, Hullett conspired with an unnamed IBT organizer (“Individual A”) and others to have Hullett embezzle and convert to his own use funds of IBT-Local 327, in violation Title 29, United States Code, Section 501©. A principal object of the conspiracy, according to the indictment, was that Hullett and others would use proceeds of the below-described $5,000 check and $3,500 check drawn on IBT-327's account to unlawfully gain access to the FOP Camp, install video surveillance and recording equipment at the FOP Camp, and record video footage of activities at the FOP Camp for possible use by IBT-Local 327 and the IBT against FOP-Andrew Jackson Lodge 5. According to the indictment, Hullett arranged to have IBT-Local 327 issue a $5,000 check and a $3,500 check to be issued to Joe T. Everson and “Individual B,” respectively, to pay for equipment and services related to such break-in and installation; the secretary-treasurer of IBT-Local 327 signed the checks without having learned from Hullett the true purpose for the funds.
According to the indictment, Hullett and Individual A met with an IBT official in late March 2007, where Hullett proposed the idea of surveilling the FOP camp, and the IBT official counseled against it. According to the indictment, the plan went ahead anyway, and Hullett and Individual A sought to find someone who could supply video surveillance and recording equipment. Then, the indictment alleges, on the night of June 9, 2007, Hullett trespassed onto the FOP Camp, where he used a cell phone to call a Davidson County inmate who was assigned by Davidson County Sheriff’s Office to work as a trustee with particular duties. The indictment alleges that Hullett then identified himself as someone else (an actual person having the initials M.K.), claimed he was a police officer investigating activities at the FOP Camp, and asked for the trustee’s help in conducting the surveillance. Hullett also allegedly gave the trustee a cell phone, which Hullett had obtained in the name of M.K. without M.K.’s knowledge or authorization, on which the trustee was to call Hullett. Later that night or early the next morning, according to the indictment, Hullett, Everson, Individual B and Hullett’s girlfriend trespassed onto FOP property, and had video surveillance and recording equipment installed, committing the state-law crime of aggravated burglary in the process.
Over the next several weeks, the indictment alleges, Hullett obtained the trustee’s assistance; the trustee allowed Hullett and others to secretly enter and remain on FOP Camp property without reporting it, reported to Hullett inappropriate behavior observed by the trustee at the FOP Camp; took photographs to gather evidence that inappropriate behavior was occurring at the FOP Camp; and removed certain video recording equipment and replaced it with new video recording equipment.
According to the indictment, between June 9 and July 1, 2007, to reward the trustee for the trustee’s assistance, Hullett paid the trustee cash on several occasions, totaling hundreds of dollars. Hullett also allegedly inquired of an officer assigned to Davidson County, Tennessee General Sessions Court whether it were possible to expedite a pending motion to suspend the trustee’s sentence.
According to the indictment, Hullett was arrested on or about July 14, 2007, as he approached the FOP Camp with the intent to trespass onto the grounds of the FOP Camp. Charges against him remain pending in state court in Wilson County.
Based on these allegations, Hullett is charged: in Count One with conspiring to embezzle and convert funds of IBT-Local 327, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371; in Count Two, with embezzling and converting the $3,500 check and proceeds thereof, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 501©; in Count Three, with embezzling and converting the $5000 check, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 501©; in Count Four, with unlawfully giving and agreeing to give something of value to an agent of the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office, namely the trustee, in connection with business of Davidson County Sheriff’s Office, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 666(a)(2); and in Count Five, with knowingly and unlawfully using, in and affecting interstate commerce, the name of M.K., with the intent to commit, and in connection with, unlawful felonious activity, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028(a)(7).
If convicted, Hullett faces a maximum prison term of ten years on Count Four, and five years on each of the other four counts. He also faces a maximum fine of $250,000 per count.
Everson pled guilty last year in federal court in Nashville to lying to investigators regarding his role in the incident. His sentencing remains pending.
“It is important that the FBI work with our partner law enforcement agencies to combat acts of bribery and misuse of union funds like those alleged in the indictment,” said SAC Harrison. “We must seek to prevent this sort of crime from usurping legitimate union activity.”
Yarbrough praised the efforts of agencies during the course of the investigation, which was conducted jointly by the FBI, the TBI, and the Office of Inspector General of the United States Department of Labor. The United States is being represented by Assistant United States Attorneys Paul M. O’Brien and Eli J. Richardson.
The public is reminded that the superseding indictment is merely an allegation and is not evidence of guilt. Likewise, the public should not consider Joe T. Everson’s guilty plea and admissions as evidence against Mr. Hullett. Mr. Hullett is presumed not guilty and is entitled to a jury trial at which the United States would bear the burden of proving each charge beyond a reasonable doubt.