Donna Simpson probably realized early on the futility of denying the charges against her. On Friday, April 17, the field secretary for the United Steelworkers of America (USWA), pleaded guilty in Pittsburgh federal court to one count of embezzling funds from the union. Simpson, 42, a resident of East McKeesport, Pennsylvania, had been indicted last August by a grand jury for stealing $87,823 from the bank account of the USWA’s Organization for Active Retirees. Prosecutors said that during June 2006-January 2008 she wrote herself 82 unauthorized checks. Sentencing is scheduled for July 22. The guilty plea follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards. (Associated Press, 4/17/09; Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 4/17/09; other sources).
