Charles "Chuckie" O'Brien (December 20, 1933 – February 13, 2020) was an American

labor union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

organizer. He was closely linked to

International Brotherhood of Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of the Team Drivers International Union and the Teamsters National Union, the union now represents a diverse members ...

President

Jimmy Hoffa James Riddle Hoffa (; born February 14, 1913 – disappeared July 30, 1975, declared dead July 30, 1982) was an American labor union leader who served as the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) from 1957 to 1971. He i ...

, and referred to himself as Hoffa's stepson.

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

investigators described him as a "habitual liar." O'Brien was born in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

. He was the son of Charles Lenton O'Brien and Sylvia Pagano. O'Brien's father died when he was still an infant. In 1957, he became special assistant to Hoffa, and remained extremely loyal to him over the years. Hoffa was convicted for jury tampering in 1964, and his conviction was upheld by the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. While in court, Hoffa was shot by an assailant carrying a BB gun; O'Brien attacked the man, leaving him bloodied. In 1966, after Hoffa had been sent to prison, Frank Fitzsimmons took over the Teamsters as temporary president. Before Hoffa's disappearance, Fitzsimmons "exiled" O'Brien to

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, although he spent just four days there. On the day of Hoffa's disappearance, O'Brien was seen driving a car belonging to Anthony Giacalone's son. O'Brien was close to Giacalone, and referred to him as "Uncle Tony." In August 1975, O'Brien was questioned by federal agents about Hoffa's disappearance. By 1978, O'Brien was working as an official with Teamsters Local 299 in Detroit. In 1995, the FBI stated that they did not consider O'Brien to be a suspect in the disappearance of Hoffa, and provided him with a letter asking him for his cooperation with the investigation. In 2001, O'Brien was asked to take a

polygraph A polygraph, often incorrectly referred to as a lie detector test, is a pseudoscientific device or procedure that measures and records several physiological indicators such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while a ...

during an investigation into the disappearance of Hoffa, but refused. Later that year, using DNA testing, the FBI linked strands of human hair found in the car driven by O'Brien to Hoffa. O'Brien died of an apparent heart attack in 2020.

Personal life

O'Brien was the stepfather of

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

official

Jack Goldsmith Jack Landman Goldsmith III (born September 26, 1962) is an American legal scholar. He serves as the Learned Hand Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, where he has written extensively in the fields of international law, civil procedure, feder ...

. O'Brien and Goldsmith's mother divorced in 1987.

In film

O'Brien is portrayed by

Jesse Plemons Jesse Plemons (; born April 2, 1988) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor and achieved a breakthrough with his role as Landry Clarke in the NBC drama series '' Friday Night Lights'' (2006–2011). He subsequently portra ...

in the 2019 film ''

The Irishman ''The Irishman'' (also known as ''I Heard You Paint Houses'') is a 2019 American epic gangster film directed and produced by Martin Scorsese from a screenplay by Steven Zaillian, based on the 2004 book '' I Heard You Paint Houses'' by Charl ...

'', which was directed by

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...

. Chuckie O' Brien and Jack Goldsmith both criticized the portrayal of O'Brien in the film, with Goldsmith calling it "high fiction."

Personal life

In film

References

Further reading