National Legal and Policy Center -- Organized Labor Accountability Project
 
UNION CORRUPTION UPDATE
 
February 17, 2003 -- Vol. 6, Issue 4

For Influential Leaders & Important Decision Makers:
Information on America's most corrupt & aggressive unions

 
TEACHERS (AFT)
First Guilty Plea in D.C. Teacher Union Scandal
The personal driver for ex-Wash. Tchrs Union (WTU) president Barbara Bullock pled guilty to money laundering on Feb. 6, and agreed to cooperate in the fed. investigation of the multi-million dollar embezzlement scandal. Under the plea agreement, Leroy Holmes "will cooperate fully, candidly and truthfully," said his attny., Lou Martucci, as they stood before U.S. Dist. Judge Richard J. Leon (D.C., G.W. Bush).

Holmes confessed that between 1997 and 2002, he cashed over $1 million in WTU checks, then distributed the cash to Bullock, her then-exec. Asst., Gwendolyn Hemphill, and ex-treasurer James Baxter. By cooperating with the investigation of the three WTU officials, Holmes will not be prosecuted for failing to report much of his income from the union, and will likely serve much less than the 20 years in prison he could have faced for the crime to which he admitted.

Meanwhile, officials of the Amer. Fedtn. of Tchrs (AFT) now running their D.C. affiliate, are considering whether to continue employing another local official for failing to alert the AFT about the forgery of her signature on a check. Esther Hankerson was general vice president of the WTU when, in 1997, was informed by the union's bank that her signature had been forged on a check payable to Bullock. Hankerson allowed the check to be cashed, and despite Bullock's confirmation that she had signed it, she did not report the incident to either WTU Exec. Bd. or the AFT. [Washington Times 2/7/03, Washington Post 2/12/03]

Union Corruption Update is made possible by the generous contributions from readers like you. NLPC, PO Box 6821, Falls Church, VA 22040. Thank you. Union Corruption Update is part of NLPC's Organized Labor Accountability Project which is investigating and exposing corruption in the Teamsters, LIUNA, AFL-CIO and many other union organizations. NLPC is a nonpartisan, nonprofit foundation promoting ethics and accountability in government through research, education and legal action.

In addition to the unions and organizations covered in this Union Corruption Update, readers can look forward to news and information on other corrupt and abusive unions in future editions.  All back issues of the Union Corruption Update can be viewed at NLPC's website (http://www.nlpc.org).  Also available is a union-by-union and state-by-state index of all Union Corruption Update articles. If you have story ideas or suggestions for future editions of Union Corruption Update, please email NLPC at nlpc@nlpc.org.  Thank you.
 
Looking for a LM-2, LM-3, or LM-4 Annual Financial Report from the Department of Labor? Visit http://www.dol-union-reports.gov.

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