Senior U.S. Dist. Judge Gustave Diamond only sentenced Stephanie A. Smith June 26 to a mere six months of house arrest and three years’ probation for embezzling $32,339 from Laborers’ Int’l Union of N. Am. Local 952 in Kittanning, Pa. The maximum sentence for a count of union embezzlement is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Diamond barred Smith from any union post for five years, but he could have made it thirteen. There was no report of a fine nor an order of restitution. [Pitt. Post-Gaz. 6/27/00]
Pennsylvania Boss Gets Year and a Day for $59,000 Theft
U.S. Dist. Judge Donald J. Lee sentenced Emerson Frederick June 28 to one year and one day in prison for embezzling about $59,000 from Am. Flint Glass Workers Union Local 555 in New Brighton, Pa. Frederick, Local 555’s ex-financial secretary, was also ordered to repay more than $36,000 to the local. He pled guilty Mar. 13 to embezzling funds over a six-year period. Asst. U.S. Atty. Barbara M. Carlin said he wrote 79 checks from union accounts to himself, made 22 unauthorized withdrawals from those accounts and failed to deposit union dues. At sentencing, he presented a $6,000 check to the local and apologized for his theft. [Pitt. Post-Gaz. 6/29/00]
Two Cleveland Bosses Indicted for Embezzlement
U.S. Atty. Emily Sweeney announced the indictment of two Cleveland union bosses June 28 for embezzlement. She said the cases were unrelated.
Tyrone Parker, ex-secretary of United Food & Commercial Workers Local 838, allegedly embezzled over $12,600 from the local in 1997-99. He also allegedly forged other bosses’ signatures on union checks and withdrawal slips and destroyed union checks. He was charged with one count of union embezzlement and three counts of falsification of union records.
Willie E. Woods, ex-president of United Paperworkers Int’l Union Local 1250, allegedly embezzled over $4,300 in 1997-98 by charging the local for bogus hotel expenses and inflating lost time while he served as president. He was charged with one count of union embezzlement, two counts of making false statements and one count of falsification of union records. [Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 6/29/00]