Hoffa leaving court, Hoffa with defense attorney, fil cabinets full of documents and other government evidence being wheeled out of courtroom; Maurice Walsh, principal defense attorney; Judge Richard Austin (presiding judge); Bittman statement; jury hurrying from courtroom after long trial ended; Hoffa leaving Chicago




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Background: James R. Hoffa, president of the International Teamsters Union and six other men were found guilty Sunday (26 July) of conspiring to defraud the union's pension fund of 25 million dollars.

A jury of eight men and four women deliberated for more than seventeen hours before finding the defendants guilty on the blanket first count of the federal government's 21 count indictment. Hoffa was also found guilty in another fraud indictment involving some 3.35 million dollars.

Hoffa announced he would appeal the conviction. He can get up to twenty years in prison if the appeal is denied.

After the conviction, William Bittman, the chief prosecutor, told reporters that the government had proved its case beyond a shadow of a doubt. He said the fraud involved was one of the largest in U.S. history.

Hoffa himself would say nothing whatsoever to the reporters who dogged his steps, apparently fearing to prejudice his appeal. He left Chicago for an undisclosed location on Monday.