Once upon a time Anthony Rumore was the college-educated future of the Teamsters in New York. His old man, Louis, was—without question—a wise guy. Louis, a Gambino crime family soldier got the boot early on during the big Teamsters cleanup that began in the late 1980s.

But Anthony went to Fordham and even had a master's degree in business from Pace, and the court-appointed investigators who have spent the last 15 years rooting out corrupt officials in the union never laid a glove on him.

Like his father before him, Anthony headed a prosperous trucking local whose members hauled most of the soda, liquor and beer in the metro area. The son was so whistle-clean that the Teamsters even chose him as head of the 25,000-member Teamsters Joint Council 16.

Now, whatever problems Anthony Rumore had, he brought them on himself. And to read this week's federal indictment is to marvel at his pig-headed gall:

He had union organizers drop everything they were doing, including contract talks, to rustle up member donations so he could pay his lawyer after the union's independent review board started looking into his affairs.

The only puzzle is what took so long.

The Voice reported back in May 2004 about Anthony's wayward ways.

His high-priced lawyer, and old pal from Fordham, Tom Puccio, said the same thing back then as he told the press this week after the feds finally dropped the boom: "He's never been in trouble before."

But there's clearly a first time.