On August 27, Benardette Beal, former president of Downeast Federation of Healthcare Professionals Local 5073, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, pled guilty in U.S. District Court for the District of Maine to embezzling union funds in the amount of $25,536.91. The local is based in Milbridge, along Maine’s eastern coast. The guilty plea follows an investigation by the Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.
