Ill Ex-Teamsters Leader Williams Freed From Prison, Back on Farm

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. —  Ailing former Teamsters President Roy L. Williams was released from prison Tuesday and returned home to his Missouri farm after serving nearly three years for conspiring to bribe a U.S. senator.

His parole was granted with the condition that Williams, who has testified for the government at two organized crime trials, continue to cooperate with law enforcement authorities. Prosecutors already have said they want his testimony.

Williams, 73, who suffers from emphysema and an enlarged heart, left the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners at 1 a.m., before the regular hours for processing prisoners, center officials said. He had been imprisoned there since December, 1985.

“He didn’t want to face a barrage of reporters,” said Williams’ lawyer, Russell Millin.

Millin and a friend of Williams drove the former Teamsters leader to his farm in Leeton, in west-central Missouri, the lawyer said.

The U.S. Parole Commission announced last week that Williams would be paroled in recognition of testimony that “was at great risk to his personal safety.”

Williams was convicted in 1982 of conspiring to bribe then-Sen. Howard Cannon (D-Nev.) to obtain his help in defeating legislation to deregulate the trucking industry. Cannon was never charged, and the law passed.