Warren City Councilman William H. Barnwell and four other state officials were indicted on Jan. 24 for claiming union pay and benefits while they worked on some fellow bosses’ new home.
Barnwell is director of organizing for the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters. The other officials indicted are: Edwin R. Nyhus, Charles S. Jackson, and David and Sandra Williamson. According to the indictment, Barnwell and the others took salaries, allowances and pension contributions between Dec. 1997 and April 1998 as they worked on the Williamsons’ new house. The Williamsons are also accused of lying to federal agents.
Elected to the Warren City Council in 1999, Barnwell will be forced to leave if he is convicted of the felony charges of misappropriation and conspiracy, each of which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The five were indicted in the U.S. Dist. Ct. for the E. Dist. of Michigan. [Macomb Daily 1/27/03]