SAN FRANCISCO -- Teamster boss Rudy Tham, convicted of embezzling union funds, will take an unpaid leave of absence while serving a six-month prison term instead of giving up three powerful posts, his attorney said.
Tham had earlier stated he would try to hold onto the Teamsters Union offices -- international organizer, president of the powerful Bay Area Council of Teamsters, and secretary-treasurer of Local 856 -- while in jail, until and unless the U.S. Supreme Court upholds his conviction.
But attorney John Milonas said Thursday that Tham was already officially off the union payroll.
On Wednesday, U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist refused to postpone Tham's scheduled surrender Thursday at Boron federal prison in Southern California's Mohave Desert.
