Bill Adrian treated his union’s funds as though they were his own. Then reality intruded. Adrian, formerly business manager and secretary-Treasurer of United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 101, pleaded guilty on Wednesday, May 30 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois to theft from a union benefit plan and falsifying data in financial reports. While prosecutors didn’t specify the exact amount stolen, they did say, in the context of federal sentencing guidelines, that the total came to somewhere between $70,000 and $120,000. Sentencing itself is scheduled for September 10.
Adrian, 55, a resident of Belleville, Ill., located across the river from St. Louis, served as a union official since 1998. Sometime prior to this year, say authorities, he diverted funds from a Local 101 benefit fund to his own personal use. He also provided false information on the union’s LM-2 annual financial reports to the U.S. Labor Department to conceal the thefts. The guilty plea follows a joint investigation by the Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards, Office of Inspector General and Employee Benefit Security Administration.