Former labor leader Anthony "Tony" Rutledge Sr. and his son, Aaron, indicted last year on 13 federal criminal charges including tax fraud and conspiracy, are scheduled to enter guilty pleas to reduced charges in court this afternoon.

The two had pleaded not guilty to the charges in 2003 and 2004. A change of plea hearing means that the defendants will plead guilty to lesser charges. Terms of the new pleas could not be determined yesterday.

Brian De Lima, lawyer for Aaron Rutledge, confirmed that a change of plea hearing is scheduled for 3 p.m. today before U.S. District Judge David Ezra but declined to discuss terms of the plea. Tony Rutledge and his lawyer, Jeff Rawitz, could not be reached for comment.

Rutledge Sr., former head of the Hawaii Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union and Local 996 of the Hawaii Teamsters Union, was ousted in 2004 from his last stronghold in organized labor here, Unity House Inc. The nonprofit organization administered some $40 million in assets for the benefit of active and retired members of the Teamsters and hotel-restaurant employees unions.

Federal officials seized control of Unity House in December on the strength of allegations in the criminal indictment that Rutledge misused funds from the nonprofit.

Unity House has been operated since December by a private receiver appointed by the federal court to oversee the nonprofit's assets and activities pending resolution of the criminal charges against the Rutledges.

Attorneys for the Rutledges protested that the government takeover of Unity House was illegal, an issue now pending before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

Reach Jim Dooley at jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com.