On September 6, 2002, in the U.S. Dist. Ct. for the East. Dist. of Wisc., David Dobry, former Secy.-Treas. of Boilermakers Lodge 177, was sentenced to five months imprisonment followed by five months of home detention followed by three years of supervision. He was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $61,510. He pled guilty to embezzling $61,510 in union funds on July 2, 2002, following an investigation by the Milwaukee branch of the U.S. Dept. of Labor’s Ofc. of Labor-Mgmt. Standards. [DOL OLMS 9/12/02]
Ex-Bookkeepper Ordered to Return $57K in Embezzled Funds
On Aug. 12, 2002, in the U.S. Dist. Ct. for the East. Dist. of Arkansas, Laverdia Ann Brockman, the former bookkeeper for United Assn. of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 155, pled guilty to one count of embezzlement, and was sentenced to five years probation, including six months in home detention with electronic monitoring, assessed $100, and ordered to make full restitution of $57,938.46 ($9,400 had already been paid to the bonding company). The charges were brought following an investigation by the Dallas branch of the U.S. Dept. of Labor’s Ofc. of Labor-Mgmt. Standards. [DOL OLMS 9/12/02]
W. Va. Husband and Wife Convicted of Embezzlement, Falsification
Former musicians union president Tom Bailey was convicted Sept. 11 of embezzlement and falsification of union records, five days after his wife, the union’s ex-ofc. mgr., unexpectedly pled guilty. Deborah Bailey’s confession before U.S. Dist Ct. Judge Charles H. Hadden II (Ford) was not part of an arranged plea agreement with fed. prosecutors, and came as a surprise to court officials.
Deborah and Tom Bailey had been officers of Local 136 of the Amer. Fed. of Musicians since 1985, when they were indicted in Dec. 2001 for embezzling $15,061 from the union. That same month, at a union hearing, union member Liz Nichols charged Mr. Bailey with using the union booking ofc. to promote his favorite bands, ignoring union rules and refusing to share with Nichols her own performance contracts. As a result of the indictment and hearing, the Baileys resigned their positions in the Local.
Mrs. Bailey’s guilty plea might be explained by her husband’s defense during the trial. His attorneys claimed that as President, he wrote only a handful of the deposit slips in question, had no time to audit his wife’s work, and had no knowledge of the missing funds. But Asst. U.S. Attny. Karen George pointed out that while Mr. Bailey may have written only a few deposit slips from the union accounts, he personally made all of the deposits at the bank, and assumed several responsibilities previously handled by the union’s treasurer. Under questioning, Mr. Bailey also admitted that it was his duty as union president to handle the union’s bookkeeping. In the end, a jury in the U.S. Dist. Ct. for the Sou. Dist. of W. Va. found Mr. Bailey guilty of embezzlement and of filing a false financial disclosure form with the U.S. Dept. of Labor.
Mr. and Mrs. Bailey are scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 9. [Charleston Gazette 9/10/02, 9/13/02]
Ex-Fin. Secy. Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement in IL
Michele Hearn pled guilty on August 23 in a Rock Island Fed. court to embezzling $29,561 from her local union. According to her plea agreement, Hearn was Financial Secy. of Local 1174 of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers union (UE) in Moline from Aug. 1995 until Feb. 2000. Starting in March 1997, Hearn began issuing checks to herself and three of her friends, and continued to do so after she lost her union office, until October 2000.
Hearn pled guilty to one count of violating U.S.C. 29, Sec. 501(c). At her Dec. 20 sentencing in the U.S. Dist. Ct. for the Cent. Dist. of Ill., she faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and any restitution ordered by the court. [U.S.A.O. C.D. IL 9/23/02]