DETROIT – The stepson of Chuckie O’Brien, an associate of Jimmy Hoffa who was portrayed by actor Jesse Plemons in “The Irishman” movie, is slamming Martin Scorsese’s film for perpetuating “false charges” against his stepfather.
Jack Goldsmith, who is also the author of the book “In Hoffa’s Shadow: A Stepfather, a Disappearance in Detroit, and My Search for the Truth," writes in a New York Times op-ed that “The Irishman” film is “one of the greatest fake movies” that O’Brien has ever seen.
“Chuckie was the most intimate associate of Jimmy Hoffa, the Teamsters union leader who famously disappeared from a suburban Detroit parking lot on July 30, 1975. Within two weeks, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced its belief, based on circumstantial evidence, that Chuckie had abducted Mr. Hoffa from the parking lot through “force and violence.” Ever since, Chuckie’s involvement in the crime has been widely repeated and broadly accepted. The charge ruined his life. The government pursued him aggressively and often leaked falsehoods to the press to pressure him into cooperating. He was ostracized in the Teamsters union and lost many friends. And worst of all, at least to Chuckie, the allegation deeply stained his honor,” Goldsmith wrote. “This is all tragic because the conventional wisdom about Chuckie is false. For decades, the F.B.I. has not suspected him of involvement in the disappearance. The circumstantial case against Chuckie fell apart long ago, and his known whereabouts on the fateful day make it practically impossible that he picked up Mr. Hoffa. Unfortunately, the government never made this information public. And so Chuckie’s innocence in one of the most notorious crimes of the 20th century remains mostly hidden, his guilt remains publicly presumed, his honor remains soiled.”
O’Brien is now 86 years old and living in Boca Raton, Fla. Goldsmith said his stepfather is not doing well physically and had “dreaded the release of the film."
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