May 9, 1963 - James R. Hoffa, president of the Teamsters union, was charged today with trying to corruptly influence a jury that tried him last fall. He was indicted with six other men by a Federal grand jury in Nashville in an action announced by the U.S. Justice Department. The grand jury detailed a number of alleged approaches by teamsters and others to jurors and their relatives. Cash and other inducements were said to have been offered if the jurors voted to acquit Mr. Hoffa. Mr. Hoffa was tried last fall on a charge he had accepted over $1 million from a trucking company in violation of the Taft-Hartley Act. The case ended in a mistrial when the jurors could not agree. A spokesman today said for Mr. Hoffa: “I am not guilty. This is another one of Robert Kennedy’s tricks.” The grand jury returned an indictment on five counts. Mr. Hoffa was named in all five, the other men in one each. The maximum penalty on conviction would be 5 years in prison and a $5,000 fine on each count. Mr. Hoffa surrendered to authorities in Philadelphia and was brought before a U.S. Commissioner on a bench warrant from Nashville. He was released on $10,000 bail for a further hearing Monday.
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