Gregory Taylor at least can be thankful that his required restitution could be higher. On September 12, Taylor, former secretary-treasurer of International Longshoremen’s Association Local 1233, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey to six months in prison plus six months of home confinement for embezzling funds from the Newark-based union. He also was ordered to pay $71,000 in restitution. Taylor had been charged in September 2011 and pleaded guilty this past February after initially pleading not guilty. Taylor already had been removed from his post by the union in May 2010. The actions follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.
Union Corruption Update reported this case nearly two years ago. Federal prosecutors had charged that Taylor, then 56 and a resident of Edison, N.J., during 2006-10 had converted slightly over $100,000 in local funds to his own personal use. More than $60,000 of this total was attributable to the union payroll contractor issuing unauthorized checks. Other thefts occurred via the use of union debit and credit cards for unauthorized travel and other expenses, and the redemption of union gift cards to buy groceries. Eventually, suspicious Local 1233 officials conducted an internal probe and fired him. The union then contacted the Labor Department, which in turn referred the case to the Justice Department.
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Ex-New Jersey Longshoremen Secretary-Treasurer Arrested, Charged