Don Padgett ran the finances of a correctional employees union. Now he’s likely to wind up as one of their inmates. On May 1, the former secretary-treasurer for American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 1304, pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of mail fraud in the amount of $186,997. Padgett, 39, a resident of Granite City, Illinois, during November 2001-May 2008 wrote unauthorized union checks to himself, made unauthorized use of the union’s credit card, and covered up the offenses on U.S. Labor Department financial reporting forms. He faces up to 20 years in prison at sentencing in September. AFGE Local 1304 represents officers at the federal correctional facility in Greenville, Ill., east of St. Louis. (KSDK-TV, 5/1/09; St. Louis Business Journal, 5/1/09).
