Roughly three years ago the leadership of the Washington Teachers Union (WTU), an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, revealed itself to be a racket of charlatans picking the pockets of dues-paying members. One by one, culminating with local President Barbara Bullock in the fall of 2003, the major players in a complex, long-term scheme to fleece WTU coffers of at least $4.6 million, pleaded guilty in federal court. To the surprise of almost nobody, the union’s two holdouts, Office Manager Gwendolyn Hemphill and Treasurer James O. Baxter II, neither of whom could be called “educators,” failed to convince a court of their innocence.
On August 31, a federal jury found both Hemphill and Baxter guilty on nearly two dozen counts, including conspiracy, embezzlement, money laundering, and wire fraud. A third defendant, a suburban Maryland-based tax accountant, James Goosby, 56, was found not guilty of covering up the thefts. … Read More ➡