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February 22, 1999 8:52 AM, EST

James P. Hoffa is making plans to take over as president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters on March 6.

A Hoffa spokesman said the preparations are based on the expectation that Kenneth Conboy will reject appeals filed by challenger Tom Leedham and a faction known as Teamsters for a Democratic Union.

Conboy, a retired federal judge who serves as an election appeals master, is reviewing the decision of a federal election overseer who certified Hoffa’s victory in the December election (2-1, p. 1).

Hoffa’s ceremony on the steps of IBT headquarters in Washington, D.C., will be followed by a reception at the Washington Convention Center and a $100-a-plate dinner at the Capitol Hill Hyatt Regency. Proceeds from the dinner will benefit the Hoffa Rerun Campaign.

Additional inaugural receptions and fund-raisers are set for March 7 in Chicago and March 13 in Los Angeles.