New Jersey Superior Court Judge Donald Venezia sentenced Kevin Schneider to 3 years in prison for stealing $180,000, mostly from a benefit fund for the widows and orphans of slain officers, on June 18. Schneider stole the money from Local 9 of the Policeman’s Benevolent Assn., in Hackensack, to support his gambling habit.
Judge Venezia imposed the maximum prison term allowed under an April plea bargain with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Ofc. He also ordered Schneider to repay the stolen funds and barred him from ever working again for the police or any other govt. agency. [Bergen County Record, 7/19/03]
Frmr. Tampa Union Chief Indicted for Swindling Fed. Health Care System
The frmr. Local president of the Natl. Assn. of Letter Carriers (NALC) has been indicted for swindling the U.S. Dept. of Labor by soliciting kickbacks in exchange for funneling postal workers to favored health care providers. U.S. Attny. Paul I. Perez (Mid. Dist., Fla.) announced the 33-count indictment against frmr. Local 599 president Lenny Perez on July 17.
Perez and private investigator Joseph Gonzalez are charged with getting illegal kickbacks from a chiropractor, massage therapist, 2 doctors and a medical center director, for referring injured workers to them. Perez and Gonzalez then assisted some of the providers in filling out claims with the U.S. Ofc. Of Workers’ Compensation to maximize their reimbursements. Perez was Local 599 president from 1991 to 2002. [U.S.A.O. M.D., FL, 7/17/03: St. Petersburg Times, 7/22/03]