On September 10, Joseph Michael Johnson, former secretary-treasurer of International Brotherhood of Boilermakers Lodge 687, was indicted in U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina on one count of embezzling $102,519 in funds from the Charleston Heights union. The indictment follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards. (OLMS, 9/19/08).
Former Secretary-Treasurer in Delaware Sentenced for Thefts
On September 11, Michael A. Pingitore, former secretary-treasurer of the Delaware Rural Letter Carriers Association, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware to three years probation and ordered to make $58,908.38 in restitution to the Dover-based union and pay a $600 special assessment. He pled guilty in July to six counts of embezzling union funds in the same amount. The sentencing follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department. (OLMS, 9/19/08).
Chicago Secretary-Treasurer Convicted of Embezzlement
On September 15, Keith H. Cook, former secretary-treasurer of Local 620 of the United Transportation Union, was convicted in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois of embezzling $48,287 in funds and making false entries on union checks. He had been charged back in March. (OLMS, 9/19/08).
Ohio Secretary Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement
On September 8, Roberta Dauch, former office secretary of the North Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio to one count of embezzling $27,537.28 in union funds. She had been charged with theft in the same amount in August. The council is based in Sandusky. (OLMS, 9/19/08).
Secretary of Florida Local Sentenced for Embezzlement
On September 12, Sheila Wright Rushing, former office secretary for Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union Local 482 in Jacksonville, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida to five years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $19,365.09. She had pleaded guilty in May to embezzling $17,133.01 in union funds. (OLMS, 9/19/08).
Wisconsin Local Vice President Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement
On August 22, Randy Sanders, former executive vice president of United Steelworkers of America Local 20, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin to two counts of embezzling union funds in the amount of $762.48 and agreed to make restitution in the amount of $7,300. He had been indicted in May on thirteen counts of embezzlement of $3,298.66 from the Kaukauna-based union. Three other union officials also were indicted for falsely claiming hours not worked. (OLMS, 9/19/08).