On April 9, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Timothy Aldridge, former president of Florence Steelworkers Local 1, pled guilty to one count of embezzling $112,525 in union funds. Aldridge had been indicted on April 9, 2003, following an investigation by the Cincinnati District Office of the U.S. Ofc. of Labor Mgmt. Standards. [OLMS, 5/6/04]
Ex-President Confesses to Embezzlement in Conn. Fed. Court
On April 29, in the U.S. District Court for Connecticut, Alan Cahill, former president of Local 745 of the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chem. & Energy union, pled guilty to a one-count indictment charging him with embezzling $9,582 in union funds. He had been indicted on January 26, following an investigation by the New Haven Resident Office of the U.S. Ofc. of Labor Mgmt. Standards. [OLMS, 5/6/04]
Former Treasurer Sentenced for Falsification in WV Fed. Court
On April 28, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, Rezin D. Hudkins, former financial secretary-treasurer of Local 5-276 of the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chem. & Energy union, was sentenced to one year of probation for falsifying union records. He was ordered to make restitution in the amount of $2,274.38 and to pay a $25 special assessment. On January 9, Hudkins pled guilty to falsifying union records following an investigation by the Pittsburgh District Office of the U.S. Ofc. of Labor Mgmt. Standards. [OLMS, 5/6/04]
Ex-Secy.-Treasurer Sentenced for Embezzlement in Ala. Fed. Court
On April 20, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, Ray Burns, the former secretary-treasurer of PACE Local 326, was sentenced to three years probation for embezzlement. He was ordered to pay a $100 assessment and restitution totaling $29,587. On November 13, 2003, Burns pled guilty to one count of embezzling $29,587 in union funds. The sentence follows an investigation by the Philadelphia District Office of the U.S. Ofc. of Labor Mgmt. Standards. [OLMS, 5/3/04]
Ex-Secy.-Treasurer Pleads Guilty in Indiana Fed. Court
On April 27, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, an information was filed against Becky S. Harris (nee Martin), former secretary-treasurer of Glass, Molders & Plastics Local 37, charging her with one count of making false entries in union records. On the same date, Harris entered a guilty plea pursuant to a plea agreement and was assessed a $25 fine. She had already made restitution in the amount of $27,484. The charge and subsequent guilty plea follow an investigation by the Chicago District Office of the U.S. Ofc. of Labor Mgmt. Standards. [OLMS, 5/6/04]
Former Secy.-Treasurer Pleads Guilty in Indiana Fed. Court
On April 27, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, an information was filed against Michael D. Updike, former secretary-treasurer of Glass, Molders & Plastics Local 285, charging him with one count of embezzling $9,343 in union funds. On the same date, Updike entered a guilty plea pursuant to a plea agreement and agreed to make full restitution. He was assessed a $100 fine. The charge and subsequent guilty plea follow an investigation by the Chicago District Office of the U.S. Ofc. of Labor Mgmt. Standards. [OLMS, 5/6/04]
Ex-Union Employee Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement in D.C. Court
On April 23, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Renee Newman, former employee of the National Alliance of Postal and Federal Employees (NAPFE), pled guilty to a one-count information charging her with embezzlement. An information filed on March 5, had charged her with embezzling $29,220.60 in union funds. The guilty plea follows a joint investigation by the Washington District Office of the U.S. Ofc. of Labor Mgmt. Standards.and the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, D.C. [OLMS, 5/6/04]
Ex-Bus. Mgr. Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement in Indiana Fed. Court
On April 23, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Darvin Collins, former business manager of IBEW Local 16, pled guilty to two counts of embezzling $26,804 in union funds. On the same day, he was sentenced to ten months imprisonment on each count to be served concurrently and two years supervised release for each count, also to be served concurrently. In addition, Collins was ordered to make restitution in the amount of $26,804 and assessed $200. He had been indicted on May 22, 2002, following an investigation by the Cincinnati District Office of the U.S. Ofc. of Labor Mgmt. Standards. [OLMS, 5/3/04]
Former Treasurer Pleads Guilty to Theft in Ill. Fed. Court
On April 21, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Jose Delgadillo, former financial secretary-treasurer of Auto Workers Local 1066, pled guilty to a one-count superceding information charging him with stealing $12,585 in union funds. Delgadillo was previously indicted on January 29, on one count of stealing and one count of making false entries. The charges follow an investigation by the Chicago District Office of the U.S. Ofc. of Labor Mgmt. Standards. [OLMS, 5/3/04]
Ex-President Indicted for Embezzlement in Va. Fed. Court
On April 15, 2004, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, James Power, former president of the Virginia Loomis Fargo Employees Union, was indicted on five counts of embezzling $7,300 in union funds. He was also indicted on one count of filing a false report and one count of failure to file. The charges follow an investigation by the Washington District Office of the U.S. Ofc. of Labor Mgmt. Standards. [OLMS, 5/3/04]
DOL Seeks New Teamsters Election in NY
On April 30, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, the U.S. Department of Labor filed a complaint against Teamsters Local 804 seeking to supervise a new election of officers. The complaint alleges that the local failed to verify the eligibility of the nominees, nominators, and seconders prior to concluding its nominations meeting on October 5, 2003. As a result, otherwise eligible nominees were prevented from correcting any procedural defects in their nominations. The complaint further alleges that the local denied an eligible nominee the opportunity to run for president when the local incorrectly found the nominee’s seconder to be out of good standing. The complaint seeks a new election for president under supervision of the U.S. Ofc. of Labor Mgmt. Standards. The complaint follows an investigation by the OLMS New York District Office. [OLMS, 5/7/04]
DOL Seeks New AFSCME Election in Iowa
On April 21, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, the U.S. Department of Labor filed a complaint against Council 61 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The complaint seeks to overturn the election of council officers held at its convention in Des Moines, Iowa, on July 26, 2003. The suit alleges that at least 33 of the locals failed to provide a notice of election to their members concerning the election of delegates to the 2003 Council convention.
In addition, the suit alleges that some of the local unions failed to follow the AFSCME constitution and bylaws which required them to mail a nominations notice in addition to an election notice. The Secretary determined that at least 3,542 delegate votes may have been affected by these violations. This number is sufficient to surpass the margin of victory in all but one contested council vice president election. However, the Secretary seeks a new election for that position under the theory that properly elected delegates may have nominated other candidates. Thus, the lack of notice may have affected the outcome for all offices. The suit seeks a new election to be held under supervision of the U.S. Ofc. of Labor Mgmt. Standards. The complaint follows an investigation by the OLMS St. Louis District Office. [OLMS, 5/7/04]