For about a year, Kevin Crownover was too clever for his own good. He soon may have to do around that time behind bars. On January 31, Crownover, former treasurer for International Association of Machinists Local Lodge 2947, was charged in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California with one count of embezzling funds and one count of aggravated identity theft from the union, which represents mechanics employed at Lemoore Naval Air Station (Kings County), located south of Fresno. The total loss to the union is estimated at $50,879. The charges follow a probe by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.
According to prosecutors, Crownover, now 46, a former employee at Lemoore Naval Air Station, during September 2015-October 2016 wrote at least 70 unauthorized checks and made any number of cash withdrawals from union bank accounts. In addition, to conceal the thefts, he forged the signature of the union president. A subsequent Labor Department investigation led to a two-count indictment by a grand jury.