The frmr. president of Missouri’s largest local union admitted lying about using union staff to perform personal work on July 1. Nick Torpea pled guilty to one count of lying to a federal agent. According to the plea agreement, the U.S. Dept. of Labor began investigating Torpea in Oct. 2002 after receiving a complaint that he was using union staff for personal business on union time.
Labor dept. investigators observed 8 staffers moving Torpea’s belongings to his new home on Dec. 12. When asked about the move in Jan., Torpea claimed that the union workers used their own vacation time, a statement he knew as false. In February, Torpea abruptly resigned as head of the 15,000 member union. Sr. U.S. Dist. Judge Stephen Limbaugh (E.D. MO, Reagan) scheduled Torpea’s sentencing for Sept. 18, when he will face up to 5 yrs. in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 7/2/03]
Ex-Milwaukee Treasurer Pleads No Contest to Embezzling Pension Funds
Alvin Madison resigned from the Milwaukee Pension Bd. in late June after pleading no contest to embezzling $56,000 from the pension fund for city workers. Last Oct., officials from the Amer. Fedtn. of State, County & Municipal Employees removed Madison from the office of Treasurer of AFSCME Local 33 after discovering the misappropriation. The Milwaukee Dist. Attny. filed charges against Madison in April. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 3. [Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, 7/2/03]