Maintenance of Way (BMWE)

Wife of Colorado Local Treasurer Pleads Guilty to Theft, Forgery

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 10/06/2008 - 00:00

On September 15, Kathleene Bigham, wife of former Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Local 779 Secretary-Treasurer Alfred Bigham, pleaded guilty in the Seventh District Court of Carbon County, Utah to theft of $14,280 in union funds plus three counts of forgery. She also will have to pay more than $2,000 in remaining restitution, plus $800 in fines. Bigham had been charged in June. Though she is a resident of Utah, the union is based in Grand Junction, Colorado. The guilty plea follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards. (OLMS, 10/2/08).

Carl Horowitz's blog

Secretary-Treasurer in Cleveland Sentenced for Records Fraud

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 06/30/2008 - 00:00

On June 10, Kristen Swint, former vice president and secretary treasurer of International Association of Machinists Inflight Aircraft Lodge 2339 in Cleveland, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio to two years probation and ordered to pay $30,256 in restitution. Swint pled guilty in January to falsifying union records to cover up theft. The sentencing follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards. (OLMS, 6/21/08).

Former Cleveland-Area President Sentenced for Embezzlement

Nebraska Local Treasurer Charged with Embezzlement

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 10/10/2005 - 00:00

Crime paid well for Antoinette Cox-Burress – at least for three and a half years. But now the former treasurer of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1293, in Lincoln, stands accused of stealing $14,663 from the union. During June 2001-December 2004, Lancaster County prosecutors allege, she embezzled funds from the local account at First Choice Credit Union in Lincoln. Officers served a search warrant at the credit union on September 22, and determined that she had made 42 unauthorized withdrawals. In some cases, Cox-Burress took cash; in others, she transferred funds to another personal account at the union. She posted a $300 bond and

Utah Spouse Sentence for $49,700 Fraud

Submitted by Michael Nelson on Mon, 06/10/2002 - 00:00

U.S. Dist. Judge. J. Thomas Greene, Jr. (D. Utah, Reagan) sentenced Jill C. Gonzales, the spouse of an ex-secretary-treasurer of Bhd. Maintenance of Way Employees Local 1227 in Ogden, Utah, May 23 to six months home confinement and 24 months probation (concurrent with the home confinement) for stealing $49,709.46. She pled guilty to mail fraud on Mar. 13. Green also ordered her to pay full restitution; $27,861 in of the total embezzlement amount was outstanding at sentencing. [DOL 5/23/02]

Indianapolis Boss Accused of Forgery, $7,100 Embezzlement

Submitted by Michael Nelson on Mon, 04/01/2002 - 01:00

On Mar. 21, 2002, in Marion County (Ind.) court, Mack Dykes, ex-president of Am. Fed'n of Gov't Employees Local 1411 in Indianapolis, was indicted on five counts of forgery and one count of theft for embezzling approximately $7,100 in union funds. The local represents Dep't of Defense employees. [DOL 3/21/02]

Utah Boss' Spouse Pleads Guilty to Mail Fraud linked to Union Corruption
On Mar. 13, Jill C. Gonzales, spouse of an ex-secretary-treasurer of the Bhd. of Maintenance of Way Employees Local 1227 in Ogden, Utah, pled guilty to mail fraud relating to a loss of union funds.The charge was brought on Jan. 23. U.S. Dist. Judge. J. Thomas Greene scheduled sentencing for May 17. Additional details were unavailable. [DOL 3/13/02; U.S. v. Gonzales, No. 02-CR-46-ALL (D. Utah Mar. 13, 2002)]

Review Board Hears Case Against Detroit Bosses

Submitted by Michael Nelson on Mon, 02/19/2001 - 01:00

Two federal investigators testified Feb. 5 that the leadership of Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters Local 337 in Detroit misused members' dues to fund their own reelection campaigns. At a hearing of the Independent Review Board, retired Dep't of Labor investigator Craig Woodhouse said officers in the local nion voted to give themselves a $100-a-week pay raise in 1996 without approval of the rank and file, and that some of that money went into the local officers' reelection campaign.

On June 2, IRB recommended that six Local 337 board members, including president Lawrence P. Brennan, be disciplined over allegedly funneling at least $14,000 in union dues into their reelection coffers, without members' permission. An IBT panel dismissed the charges and referred its decision to the board, which now will decide whether to take action. Brennan, who is also president of Joint Council 43 and a close ally of IBT boss James P. Hoffa, denied the allegations.

Pennsylvania Unionists Sentenced for Assault

Submitted by Michael Nelson on Mon, 11/06/2000 - 01:00

Three members of the Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters Local 115 were scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 25 in connection with the 1998 beating of Clinton protesters during a fundraising trip by Bill Clinton to Philadelphia. Mark Hopkins, Charles Davis and Norma Bottomer pled guilty in Sept. to various charges, including assault and conspiracy, in connection with the beating of protester Don Adams and his sister, Teri. Now five Teamsters have pled guilty in the case. In 1999, Marc Nardonne and Kevin McNulty pled guilty to charges of riot, conspiracy and assault.

Both Adamses were beaten to the ground by Teamsters after a fight broke out during Clinton's Oct. 1998 at the height of the House impeachment inquiry in the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Adams later filed a criminal complaint accusing Local 115 president John P. Morris of starting the fight and of instructing union members to attack him. The beatings, broadcast on local television stations, left Adams with a gash under his eye and multiple bruises. A federal civil rights lawsuit brought by Adams against Morris is pending. [Wash. Times 10/25/00]