Tony Liesenfeld for several years represented guards at the federal penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pa. He soon will be an inmate, most likely at a location not far away. On June 8, Liesenfeld, former president and secretary-treasurer of American Federation of Government Employees Local 148, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania to a year and a day in prison, and two years of supervised release, for acts of wire fraud against the union totaling $77,716. He also was ordered to pay $100,000 in restitution and a $100 assessment. Liesenfeld had pleaded guilty last October after being charged in September. The actions follow a probe by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.
Liesenfeld, now 49, a resident of Sunbury, Pa., served as president and treasurer of local union during 2011-15. For much of that time, prosecutors alleged, he made unauthorized use of his union credit card, created fraudulent checks, forged signatures, and created fake vouchers to cover his tracks. Purchases went for such items as laptop computers, iPads and camping equipment. An internal audit in 2015 led to the removal of President Liesenfeld and Vice President Dave Bartlett from their posts. At his sentencing hearing, Liesenfeld asked the judge to recommend a prison facility other than Lewisburg, but near his home. Following his sentence, set to begin on August 7, he must participate in a drug and mental health treatment program.