Tony Mancel Davis pled guilty on March 18 to embezzling nearly $40,000 from a union apprentice training fund in an Atlanta federal court. The fund was administered by Local 48 of the Int’l Assn. of Heat & Frost Insulators & Asbestos Workers.
From June 1998 to October 2001, David used his position as coordinator of the fund to reimburse his food, clothing and travel expenses of $8,310, and stealing $31,647 in illegal salary advances, duplicated salary and fraudulent overtime. The fund has about 200 participants and $56,000 in assets.
David is scheduled to be sentenced in the U.S. District Court for Northern Ga. on June 2. He faces a maximum prison sentence of five years on each of the two embezzlement counts and $250,000 in fines. As part of his plea agreement, Davis agreed to repay the full amount he embezzled. David was charged on Feb. 24 after an investigation by the Atlanta branch of the U.S. Dept. of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration. [EBSA 3/26/03]
Granddaughter of SD Union Founder Sentenced for Embezzlement
Her grandfather chartered Local 220 of the Intl. Alliance of Theatrical, Stage & Picture Operators in 1911. On March 10, JoAnn Patricia Vaughn was sentenced to five years probation for embezzling $29,000 from the union when she was its treasurer. Chief U.S. Dist. Judge Lawrence Piersol (S.D., Clinton) ordered her to serve the first six months of that probation in home confinement.
According to Local 220 president Jeff Gortmaker, Vaughn lost her house in a fire, and both her husband and father died before she began embezzling the funds. Michael Ridgway, the Asst. U.S. Attny. who prosecuted the case, said that Vaughn had begun making monthly payments to the union. [Sioux Falls Argus Leader 3/12/03]
Ex-Secy.-Treasurer Indicted for Embezzlement in Missouri Federal Court
On March 13, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Steve Floyd, former secretary-treasurer of Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union (PACE) Local 05-152, was indicted on three counts of embezzling $27,882 in union funds and one count of falsifying union records. The charges were brought following an investigation by the St. Louis branch of the U.S. Office of Labor-Management Standards. [OLMS 3/25/03]
Ex-Office Manager Confesses to Embezzlement in Michigan Federal Court
On March 11, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Dana Moore, former office manager of the United Bhd. of Carpenters Great Lakes Regional Industrial Council, pled guilty to one count of embezzling union funds. A one-count information charging Moore with embezzling $20,079 was filed on February 4, 2003, following an investigation by the Detroit branch of the U.S. Office of Labor-Management Standards. [OLMS 3/25/03].
More Sentences Announced in Multi-Million Dollar Racketeering Scheme in NYC
The U.S. Ofc. of Labor-Mgmt. Standards announced the following plea and sentencing in the $6 million racketeering case against 26 bosses and members of the Intl Union of Elevator Constructors Local One The two defendants were charged following a joint investigation by the New York branch of the U.S. Office of Labor-Management Standards, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, the FBI, and the IRS. They were sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
On March 12, Thomas McCarthy, a member of Elevator Constructors Local One, was sentenced to one year probation and ordered to pay $4,600 in restitution and perform 50 hours of community service. He had earlier pled guilty to misdemeanor charges for conspiracy to demand and receive illegal payments.
On March 10, Terrance Carr, organizer and former warden of Elevator Constructors Local One, pled guilty to a superceding information charging him with making false statements in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1001. He had lied to investigators regarding his involvement in a no-show job scheme. [OLMS 3/25/03]
Ex-Florida President Sentenced for Embezzlement
On February 28, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Jack Hatch, former president of Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union Local 43, was sentenced to five months imprisonment followed by three years of probation, the first five months of which will be under house arrest with an electronic monitor. He was also ordered to pay restitution of $37,782.49. He had pled guilty to embezzlement on September 18, 2002, following an investigation by the Atlanta branch of the U.S. Office of Labor-Management Standards. [OLMS 3/25/03]
Brother of Minneapolis Plumbers Chief Sentenced
U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery (Minn., Clinton) sentenced Joseph Martin to two years of probation after he testified against former Minneapolis city councilman Joe Biernat for accepting free plumbing work from Martin’s union. He had also agreed to testify against his brother, Thomas, the former business manager for Local 15 of the United Assn. of Plumbers and Pipefitters. But Thomas pled guilty to embezzling union funds to pay for the work on Biernat’s home in November. Later that month, Biernat was convicted for his role in the scheme. [Minneapolis Star Tribune 3/19/03]
Pennsylvania Local Agrees to New Election
On March 5, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, a stipulation of settlement agreement between the U.S. Department of Labor and Local 354 of the United Assn. of Plumbers and Pipefitters was approved. Pursuant to this stipulation, OLMS will supervise new nominations and a new election for the position of business manager-financial secretary-treasurer. The Department had filed suit against the local in August 2001 after an investigation by the Pittsburgh branch of the U.S. Office of Labor-Management Standards disclosed that a union officer and union employees campaigned on time paid for by the union prior to the local’s April 7, 2001 office. [OLMS 3/25/03]