Jennifer Rogers played a supporting role, but it was enough for prosecutors to secure a guilty plea. Last Tuesday, December 1, Rogers, the daughter of Linda Rogers, former secretary-treasurer of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2254, pleaded guilty by videoconference in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey to aiding her mother’s embezzlement of $40,455 in funds from the Jersey City union. The pair had been charged in August. AFSCME Local 2254 represents employees at Jersey City Medical Center, including clerical workers, therapists and housekeepers. The actions follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.
Linda Rogers, as secretary-treasurer, had sole control over union finances. According to prosecutors, daughter Jennifer Rogers, now 38, a resident of Jersey City, helped her mom rip off the union. During July 2016-August 2017, as an employee of the hospital as well as a union member herself, the younger Rogers deposited 112 unauthorized checks totaling $35,267 from a union account to a joint personal checking and savings account. She covered for her mother in this scheme by forging the signatures of the local president. Separately, during October through December 2016, Linda Rogers allegedly made six wire transfers totaling $5,188 from a union account toward a personal credit card. Sentencing for Jennifer Rogers is scheduled for April 20. Her guilty plea almost guarantees one from her mother.