On November 4, Michelle Jean Nelson, ex-president of Communications Workers of America Local 7272, entered an Alford plea in Polk County (Minn.) Circuit Court to felony theft by false representation in an amount between $1,000 and $5,000 from the Erskine, Minn. (near Grand Forks, N.D.) union. An Alford plea means “sort of guilty.” Here, the defendant does not admit to committing the alleged act, but does concede that the evidence for a conviction is sufficient beyond a reasonable doubt. Nelson had been charged in March. The charge and plea follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.
