Richenthal also told the court that the government had compiled evidence against Lombardo that included “recordings in which Mr. Lombardo is attempting to or sought to influence the testimony of other individuals during the winter of this year with respect to the contract” between Prim and the NBPA.
In court today, Lombardo and prosecutors didn’t name the person he allegedly conspired with. Lombardo and Carolyn Kaufman, a Prim principal who served as president of the company’s advisory services unit, were charged in a criminal complaint unsealed in April.
Kaufman has pleaded not guilty to the charges and faces trial Dec. 2. Steven Molo, a lawyer for Kaufman, didn’t return a call seeking comment on Lombardo’s plea.
‘Good Man’
“Joseph Lombardo is a good man who made a series of unfortunate decisions, including to this matter for which he is now paying a steep emotional and professional price,” his lawyer, Michael Koenig, said after the hearing. “By admitting his conduct and fully accepting his responsibility for his actions, he can now begin to repair and fully restore his reputation.”
Koenig said that his client has no cooperation agreement with the government, and will seek leniency at sentencing.
Lombardo’s arrest followed months of turmoil at the union, whose members in February voted to fire Executive Director Billy Hunter after an independent investigation found that the former federal prosecutor put his own interests ahead of the union’s member players.
Hunter’s son, Todd, was a principal at Prim Capital. Billy Hunter in January purged family members from union roles after the investigation conducted by the New York law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP was critical of nepotism at the organization.
Family Members
The New York-based union paid almost $4.8 million to Hunter’s family members and their professional firms since 2001, according to public records. Billy Hunter also severed ties with Prim.