On January 7, Jonathan Smith, former financial secretary of United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners Local 2247, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska to four months in halfway house for embezzling $41,770 from the Juneau union. He also was ordered to serve five years of probation and perform 250 hours of community service, and pay full restitution. Smith had pleaded guilty in August after being indicted in April. The actions follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.
According to court records, Smith, who began serving as financial secretary in 2006 and who also worked as business agent for the Alaska Regional Council of Carpenters, during April 2007-May 2012 used his union debit card to pay for personal expenses such as travel, food, drink and gambling. The pattern of theft ended when the union conducted an internal audit and then requested a Labor Department probe.