On December 10, Danny E. Beyser, former financial secretary for Local 1638 of the United Mine Workers, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia to one year and one day of incarceration and three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $80,135.40 in restitution to the union. Beyser, 52, a resident of Moundsville, W.V., pleaded guilty to embezzlement in October. He has paid back some of the money, but still owes more than $54,000. The plea and sentencing follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards. (Associated Press, 12/12/07; OLMS, 12/22/07).
Former Presidents of Milwaukee Local Sentenced
On December 13 and 17, Debra Timko and Danny Iverson, former presidents of Service Employees International Union Local 150 in Milwaukee, were sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin for failing to maintain union records as a way of covering up their theft of local funds. Timko got six months’ home confinement and three years probation, and will have to make $38,795.10 in restitution. Iverson received three years probation and was ordered to make $24,853 in restitution. Each pleaded guilty in August. (OLMS, 12/22/07).
Ex-Office Secretary in Colorado Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement
On December 5, Paul Adair Butts, former office secretary for Local 577 of the Operative Plasterers & Cement Masons International Association, pleaded guilty in federal court to embezzling union funds in the amount of $28,480. (OLMS, 12/22/07).
Maryland Former Local President Pleads Guilty to Theft
On December 12, Wesley Leroy Wicks, formerly president of Graphic Communications International Union Local 1-C, pled guilty in District Court of Maryland for Prince Georges County to one count of theft, and subsequently was sentenced to three years of probation. He also paid restitution to the local in the amount of $4,804.70. (OLMS, 12/22/07).
Oklahoma Former Secretary-Treasurer Pleads Guilty to Theft
On December 3, Steve Dobyns, former secretary treasurer of Glass, Molders and Plastics Workers Local 325, pleaded guilty in federal court to embezzling union funds in the amount of $865. He had been charged in October, along with local President Curtis Smith. (OLMS, 12/22/07).
Local President in Indiana Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement
On December 13, Gary E. Sharp, former president and business manager of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2344, was sentenced in federal court to one year of probation and ordered to pay a $100 assessment for embezzling $630 in union funds. He pleaded guilty in August. The local represents workers at the ORC Plastics plant in Lafayette, Ind., which recently announced plans to shut down operations. (OLMS, 12/22/07).
Financial Secretary in Ohio Charged with False Record-Keeping
On December 13, Kathleen Drake, ex-financial secretary of Lodge 2339-C of the International Association of Machinists, was charged in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio with making false entries in union records. The union represents Cleveland-based flight attendants for Continental and ExpressJet Airlines. (OLMS, 12/22/07).