On July 29, in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri (Southwestern Division), Tawyuna Palmer, ex-financial secretary of Local 11-14228 for the United Steelworkers, was sentenced to five years probation for embezzlement of nearly $21,500 in union funds. She pleaded guilty back in April following an investigation by the Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS), and since then has made restitution. In addition to probation, Palmer will have to serve six months of home detention and perform 120 hours of community service. (OLMS, 8/17).
Former Philly-Area Manager Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement
On July 26, James Jordan, ex-business manager for Local 161 of the Riggers union, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to one count of embezzlement totaling $21,652.80. Additionally, he pleaded guilty to one count of making a false entry in the local’s records. He had been indicted in May. (OLMS, 8/17).
Ex-Business Manager in Cincinnati Area Pleads Guilty
On August 10, Russell Liming, formerly business manager/financial secretary for Sheet Metal Workers Local 183, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio, to one count of filing a false report with the U.S. Department of Labor. (OLMS, 8/17).
Clarification
The previous issue of Union Corruption Update was unable to indicate the local affiliation of Laborers ex-secretary-treasurer Thomas Brewster, of Portsmouth, N.H., recently indicted in U.S. District Court for embezzling more than $150,000 in union funds. Since then, the Labor Department has reported his affiliation as Local 976. (OLMS, 8/17).