Considering the nature of his offenses, Juan “Alex” Cedeno should consider himself fortunate. On December 10, Cedeno, former president of United Steelworkers Local 4-318, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York to three years of probation and 250 hours of community service for concealing his thefts from the Queens, N.Y. union, which since has moved to Edison, N.J. He also was ordered to pay $33,583 in restitution and a $25 special assessment. Cedeno had pled guilty last March after being arrested and charged in May 2014. The actions follow a probe by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards and Employee Benefits Security Administration.
Prosecutors had alleged that Cedeno, a resident of Queens, during April 2009-October 2011 used his union credit card for various unauthorized purposes, including clothing purchases and hotel-casino visits. The thefts added up to $58,303. To conceal this activity, he co-signed more than $35,000 in checks from the local general fund, transferring the money to the health and welfare benefit fund, where he served as a trustee. He also falsified information on Labor Department financial reports.
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