As a union crook, Rebecca Mercer thought big – bigger, at least, than initially had been suspected. On October 3, Mercer, former treasurer of National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) Chapter 284, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia to one year and one month in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for wire fraud against the Atlanta-based union. She also was ordered to pay $52,822.22 in restitution and a $600 special assessment. When charged last September, the theft was reported as $4,403.11. Mercer pleaded guilty this June to stealing the higher amount.
Rebecca Mercer, 40, a resident of Statham, Georgia (Barrow County), was employed as an IRS tax examiner in Atlanta. During part of that time, from October 2005 until July 2008, she also served as treasurer of NTEU Chapter 284. Unfortunately, she used her union-issued debit/credit card the wrong way. Court records show that Mercer during July 2006-June 2008 used her card to make at least 169 unauthorized purchases and withdrawals exceeding $50,000. Irregularities in union financial records triggered an investigation by the Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards. She resigned from her IRS post on October 22, 2008 once the fraud was traced to her.