William E. Willis, ex-president of United Auto Workers Local 647 in Evendale, Ohio, pled guilty Jul. 29 in U.S. Dist Court in Cincinnati to embezzling $2,522.56 from union coffers. From Jan. to May 1996, Willis embezzled the funds by submitting false lost time claims. He obtained lost time reimbursement from the local for the performance of union business when he was actually taking unauthorized time off for personal business and recreation. Willis admitted to federal prosecutors that he stayed home and did not conduct union business when he got the lost time reimbursement from Local 647. Willis was freed on a personal recognizance bond until sentencing Oct. 22. He faces five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and exclusion from union positions for up to 13 years. [USAO Media Release 7/29/99]
Louisiana Boss Guilty of Embezzling $2,300
James Green, an ex-boss of the N.W. La. Rural Letter Carriers’ Ass’n Dist. 4, in Shreveport, La., pled guilty Aug. 24 to one count of embezzling over $2,300 in union funds. Testimony at the hearing by Special Agent Roy Roberson, Department of Labor, established that Green was the president of the union, responsible for opening, writing checks, depositing and maintaining receipts, recording transactions and maintaining invoices as they related to the convention funds. From Apr. to Sep. 1995, Green embezzled $2,380 from the union’s state convention funds by writing unauthorized checks drawn from the union’s convention fund. The checks were made payable to Green, to cash or to third parties for alleged convention expenses. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 22. Green faces five years imprisonment and a fine of $10,000. [USAO Media Release 8/24/99]