Crime paid well for Antoinette Cox-Burress – at least for three and a half years. But now the former treasurer of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1293, in Lincoln, stands accused of stealing $14,663 from the union. During June 2001-December 2004, Lancaster County prosecutors allege, she embezzled funds from the local account at First Choice Credit Union in Lincoln. Officers served a search warrant at the credit union on September 22, and determined that she had made 42 unauthorized withdrawals. In some cases, Cox-Burress took cash; in others, she transferred funds to another personal account at the union. She posted a $300 bond and was released from county jail on September 29. (Lincoln Journal Star, 10/1).
Teacher in Kansas Gets Probation for Thefts
Wayne Kruse, a former sixth-grade teacher in Lawrence, Kansas, remarked at his sentencing hearing of October 3 that he felt like the scheming traveling salesman in “The Music Man.” It looks as though he’ll have to travel somewhere else to resume his career. In September he’d pleaded guilty to one count each of theft and forgery in connection with more than $97,000 in thefts from $240,000 in dues payments deducted from Lawrence Education Association (LEA) member paychecks between November 2003 and August 2004. Because Kruse had no prior criminal record, Douglas County District Court Judge Jack Murphy sentenced him to two years probation. The LEA is affiliated with the National Education Association. (Associated Press, 10/3).
Former Secretary in Arkansas Indicted for Embezzlement
On September 7, Elizabeth Fiske, ex-bookkeeper and office secretary for Council 38 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, was indicted in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Arkansas, on 63 counts of embezzling $32,793 in union funds. The indictment follows an investigation by the Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards. (OLMS, 9/26).
Ohio Secretary Gets Probation for Failing False Report
On September 7, Jenny Noah, former financial secretary for Local 5-1250 of the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio to two years probation, and ordered to make full restitution, for making a false statement on the Labor Department reporting form. Noah had failed to disclose that she had made a $500 disbursement. (OLMS, 9/26).
Ex-Treasurer Pleads Guilty to Falsifying Union Records
On September 6, George P. Strollo, former treasurer for Communications Workers of America Local 81495, pled guilty in U.S. District Court, Western District of New York, to falsifying union records. He acknowledged that he made false entries in local records to conceal thefts. (OLMS, 9/26).
Virginia Local Secretary-Treasurer Pleads Guilty to Mail Fraud
On September 15, Linda Y. Brown pled guilty in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, to one count of mail fraud. Brown, formerly the secretary-treasurer Boilermakers Local 57, had been charged with mail fraud for executing a scheme to defraud the local of $24,336. (OLMS, 10/1).
Former Treasurer in Alaska Charged with Embezzlement
On September 12, James Jackson, who had been treasurer for International Longshoremen and Warehousemen Union Local 200, Unit 62, was charged in U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska with one count of embezzling almost $13,000 in union funds. (OLMS, 10/1).
Western Pennsylvania Woman Charged with Embezzlement
On September 12, Beth Ann Shanor, formerly an employee of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Sub-Lodge 3094, was charged in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Beaver County Court, with two counts of embezzling nearly $5,600 in local funds. (OLMS, 10/1).
Ex- Employee in Western Pennsylvania Charged with Theft
On September 7, Brenda Berkhamer, an ex-employee with United Mine Workers Local 1257, was charged in a 47-count criminal complaint with embezzling $9,656.50 in local funds. She had been arrested the same day and was released on $10,000 bond. She is set for a preliminary hearing on November 18. (OLMS, 10/1).