On April 5, Angelous “Smokey” Lineback, former international representative for the Retail Wholesale District Council of the United Food and Commercial Workers, was sentenced by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina to 15 months imprisonment, to be followed by 36 months of supervised probation. Last May he pled guilty to embezzling funds and falsifying records for two locals he had represented. In addition to his sentence, Lineback was ordered to make restitution in the amount of $77,441 to UFCW Local 1050 and $13,685 to UFCW Local 1052. The action follows an investigation by the Nashville District Office of the U.S. Office of Labor-Mgmt. Standards (OLMS, 4/26).
Former Secretary Pleas Guilty in Pennsylvania Court
On April 15, Sonya Green, former financial secretary of Steelworkers Local 3657 in Western Pennsylvania, pled guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of embezzlement. She had been indicted last September on 35 counts of stealing $39,879.95 in union funds following an investigation by the Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS), Pittsburgh District. (OLMS, 4/26).
Missouri Woman Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement
For five and a half years Tawyuna Sue Palmer, 46, helped herself to more than $20,000 from the coffers of Local 14228 of the United Steelworkers. But as for the immediate future, the former official of the Joplin, Mo. union could be looking at a stretch in prison.
Palmer, an engineering clerk for Missouri Gas Energy in Joplin, on April 18 pleaded guilty plea in federal court for her theft of $21,449.77 during the period February 16, 1998 to August 25, 2003 from the local, which covers mainly employees of Missouri Gas Energy and Kansas Gas Service. She’d been a member for at least 20 years, and financial secretary since the late 80s.
Her thefts went unnoticed until August 2003, when a check the union had written to one of its representatives bounced. This triggered an internal investigation, Palmer’s removal from her post, and a Labor Department audit. In all, Palmer had written more than 90 union checks that were either unauthorized or in excess of the authorized amount. She also had created false expense vouchers.
Court records indicate Palmer has made restitution to the union for the stolen funds.
She still faces wage garnishment for past due union back taxes, plus penalty and interest. In exchange for her guilty plea, the U.S. Attorney’s Office agreed not to file any additional criminal charges, and recommended a lenient sentence. (Joplin Globe, 4/20).