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Indictments
Office of Labor-Management Enforcement
The Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) conducts both civil and criminal investigations of alleged violations of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) and related laws.
These investigations by OLMS District Offices involve issues such as embezzlements of union funds, union officer elections, the filing of required reports by unions and others with OLMS, and the imposition of trusteeships over subordinate unions by a parent body. These investigations may result in legal enforcement actions.
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| September 7th, 2005 | On September 7, 2005, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, Elizabeth Fiske, former Bookkeeper and Office Secretary of AFSCME Council 38, was indicted on 63 counts of embezzling union funds totaling $32,793 and one count of destroying union records. The indictment follows an investigation by the OLMS Nashville District Office. |
| June 4th, 2002 | On June 4, 2002, in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Alfred S. Garappolo, a partner in the accounting firm Thomas Havey LLP, pled guilty to a two-count information charging him with being an accessory after the fact to embezzlement from an employee welfare benefit plan in violation of 18 U.S.C. 3 and concealing and covering up a material fact in a matter within the jurisdiction of the Department of Labor in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1001. He pled guilty to assisting Kerry Tresselt, the bookkeeper for the Iron Workers National Training Fund, in order to hinder or prevent her apprehension, trial and punishment for her embezzlement from the Training Fund. He also pled guilty to knowingly and willfully concealing and failing to disclose to OLMS investigators statements made at a September 1992 meeting by Victor Van Bourg, then general counsel of the Iron Workers International Union, to Jake West, then the international president. These statements were to the effect that the Havey Company should be replaced as the Iron Workers' accountants if Havey accountants did not assist the scheme to underreport and conceal the true nature and amount of the union's disbursements for its officers on the union's annual financial report, Form LM-2, filed with OLMS. The documents filed as part of the plea agreement charge that after the meeting, Havey accountants aided and assisted in the preparation of union reports that concealed the true amount of union disbursements for union officers Jake West, LeRoy Worley, and James Cole. This is part of an ongoing investigation that has resulted in the guilty pleas of six former officials and employees of the Iron Workers to a variety of embezzlement and conspiracy charges. Former President Jake West and former General Secretary LeRoy Worley, have been indicted and are separately awaiting trial. The charges were brought following a joint investigation by the OLMS Washington District Office, the FBI, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. |
| September 10th, 2002 | On September 10, 2002, in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona, Gregory B. Floto, former president of the National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 116, was sentenced to six months of home detention, three years of probation, fined $2,000, ordered to pay a $100 special assessment, and ordered to pay $7,714.68 in remaining restitution to the union (or bonding company). On March 15, 2002, Floto pled guilty to making a false statement to a federal agent to conceal his embezzlement of $15,714.21 in union funds after being charged in a seven-count indictment. This case was prosecuted by attorneys from the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, following a joint investigation by the OLMS Los Angeles District Office and U.S. Customs Internal Affairs Tucson office. |
| September 26th, 2003 | On September 26, 2003, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, John Mills, a former member of Elevator Constructors Local One, pled guilty to an information charging him with conspiracy to demand and receive unlawful labor payments in violation of the Taft Hartley Act. This investigation was part of Elevator Constructors Local One operator no-show job scheme for which an indictment was filed on February 5, 2002. The guilty plea follows a joint investigation by the OLMS New York District Office, the Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration, the FBI, and the IRS. |
| September 26th, 2005 | On September 26, 2005, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Evon Louis, aka Evon Lewis, while employed by Carpenters Local Union 130, was indicted on one count of embezzling union funds totaling $11,635.57. On September 27, 2005, Louis/Lewis was arrested by U.S. Marshals in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and released pending arraignment after posting bond. The indictment follows an investigation by the OLMS Tampa Resident Investigator Office. |
| January 10th, 2005 | On January 10, 2005, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, James M. Duff, principal leader, organizer and manager of the Duff family business enterprise, entered a guilty plea to multiple offenses including the following: racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, 3 counts of wire fraud, 19 counts of mail fraud, 6 counts of money laundering and 3 counts of tax fraud. Duff was indicted in September 2003, for his role in defrauding the City of Chicago by fraudulently obtaining woman- and minority-owned business certifications for two of his companies. In addition, Duff fraudulently obtained government and private contracts for the two companies on the basis of the certification. The guilty plea follows a joint investigation by the OLMS Chicago District Office, the FBI, the IRS, and the Department of Labor's Office of the Inspector General. |
| September 15th, 2005 | On September 15, 2005, in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas, Christopher Scott Wagner, former Operations Manager for the Boilermakers National Funds, was indicted on one count of lying to federal agents and one count of obstructing a health care investigation. The indictment follows an investigation by the OLMS St. Louis District Office and the DOL's Employee Benefits Security Administration and Office of Inspector General. |
| September 25th, 2003 | On September 25, 2003, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, James M. Duff, principal leader, organizer and manager of the Duff family business enterprise, and the following six individuals were indicted by federal grand jury on 30 counts of fraud, money laundering, and racketeering conspiracy: Patricia Green Duff, William Stratton, Terrence Dolan, Starling Alexander, John Leahy, and Edward Wisniewski. The indictment involves two alleged fraud schemes: one relating to more than $100 million in government and private contracts obtained by sham woman- and minority-owned businesses and the other relating to over $3 million in unpaid workers' compensation insurance premiums. All of the charges involve the activities of the Duff family businesses. The individuals were charged as follows: |
| September 5th, 2003 | On September 5, 2003, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Neil Babineaux, former assistant to the assistant vice president of the United Transportation Union, pled guilty to a charge of criminal contempt. He had been indicted on April 3, 2003, on charges of obstruction of justice and making false declarations to a federal grand jury. Following the guilty plea, Babineaux was sentenced to six months home confinement, two years probation and a $3,000 fine. These charges follow a joint investigation by the OLMS New Orleans District Office, the Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General and the FBI. |
| January 17th, 2001 | On January 17, 2001, in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Gregory Floto, president of Treasury Employees Chapter 116 in Tucson, Arizona, was indicted on seven counts of mail fraud/deprivation of honest services (three counts), making false statements (three counts), and obstruction of justice (one count). The charges were brought following a joint investigation by the OLMS Los Angeles District Office and the U.S. Customs Service Office of Internal Affairs. |
| January 22nd, 2003 | On January 22, 2003, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Willie Corbett, former delegate of Maintenance of Way Lodge 616 of Union, Mississippi, pled guilty to falsifying union records. Corbett was indicted on September 25, 2002 following an investigation by the OLMS New Orleans District Office. |
| November 13th, 2003 | On November 13, 2003, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, a superseding indictment was filed adding new charges against Byron Boyd, Jr., current president; Charles Little, former president; and John Rookard, current special assistant to the president, of the United Transportation Union (UTU). These individuals had been previously charged on September 12, 2003, with racketeering conspiracy and two counts of mail fraud. The superseding indictment charges all three with one count of racketeering, one count of RICO conspiracy, and one count of mail fraud. Boyd and Rookard were indicted on a second count of mail fraud. Additionally, Little and Boyd were charged with seven counts of embezzling union funds in the amount of $3,658.59; Boyd was charged with three additional counts of embezzling union funds in the amount of $4,185.50 and two counts of witness tampering. The indictment alleges that Boyd, Little and Rookard devised and executed a scheme to defraud the UTU membership by soliciting and receiving over $525,000 in cash from thirty-four attorneys nationwide. The charges follow a joint investigation by the OLMS New Orleans District Office, the Department of Labor's Office of the Inspector General, and the FBI. |
| November 21st, 2007 | On November 21, 2007, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, Randy Greear, former Secretary-Treasurer of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers Division 37, pled guilty to embezzling union funds in the amount of $22,691.60. On September 11, 2007, Greear was indicted on one count of embezzling union funds in the same amount. The guilty plea follows an investigation by the OLMS Washington District Office. |
| October 2nd, 2003 | On October 2, 2003, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Ralph Dennis, former Director of Insurance for the United Transportation Union Insurance Association, pled guilty to conspiring with others to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). Dennis had been indicted on September 12, 2003, on one count of RICO conspiracy and two counts of mail fraud and aiding and abetting. These charges and the guilty plea resulted from an investigation by the OLMS New Orleans District Office, the Department of Labor's Office of the Inspector General, and the FBI. |
| September 10th, 2008 | On September 10, 2008, in the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, Joseph Michael Johnson, former Secretary-Treasurer of Boilermakers Union Lodge 687 (located in Charleston Heights, S.C.), was indicted on one count of embezzling union funds in the amount of $102,519. The indictment follows an investigation by the OLMS Atlanta District Office. |
| September 11th, 2007 | On September 11, 2007, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, former Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers Division 37 Secretary-Treasurer Randy Greear was indicted on one count of embezzling union funds in the amount of $22,691.60. The indictment follows an investigation by the OLMS Washington District Office. |
| September 12th, 2003 | On September 12, 2003, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, the following international officers and employees were indicted on one count of RICO conspiracy and two counts of mail fraud and aiding and abetting: Charles Little, former international president of the United Transportation Union (UTU), Byron Boyd, current UTU international president, Ralph Dennis, former director of insurance for the United Transportation Union Insurance Association (UTUIA), and John Rookard, assistant to the UTU international president. The charges were brought following a joint investigation by the OLMS New Orleans District Office, the Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General and the FBI. |
| September 14th, 2010 | On September 14, 2010, in the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico, Joseph Chester, former President of the National Association of Air Traffic Controllers (NATC) Local ABQ (located in Albuquerque, N.M.), was indicted on 47 counts of wire fraud. The charges follow an investigation by the OLMS Denver District Office. |
| September 22nd, 2010 | On September 22, 2010, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, Jonathan S. Deutsch, former Trustee of the West Virginia Heavy and Highway Construction Industry Fund, was indicted in a 25 count indictment of wire fraud involving approximately $750,000 in embezzled union funds. The indictment follows a joint investigation by the OLMS Pittsburgh District Office and the DOL OIG. |
| September 25th, 2002 | On September 25, 2002, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Willie Corbett, former delegate of Maintenance of Way Employees Lodge 616, was indicted for the concealment of a union record. The indictment charges that he concealed details of his travel expenses on a union record. These charges were brought following an investigation by the OLMS New Orleans District Office. |
| September 25th, 2003 | On September 25, 2003, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Joseph Fusilli, former member of Elevator Constructors Local One, was sentenced to ten months in prison for violating the Hobbs Act. He was ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution and fined $2,000. On November 12, 2002, Fusilli pled guilty to an information charging him with illegal activity relating to the Loews Theatre Project; he had been indicted on February 5, 2002. The sentencing follows a joint investigation by the OLMS New York District Office, the Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration, the FBI, and the IRS. |
| September 28th, 2006 | On September 28, 2006, in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, Andrew Konspore, former Treasurer of Northeast Emergency Services Union, an independent union representing EMT's and Paramedics employed at American Medical Response in New Haven, Connecticut, waived indictment and pled guilty to one count of embezzling between $70,000 and $120,000 in union funds from January 2001 through December 2004. Sentencing is scheduled for December 14, 2006. The guilty plea follows an investigation by the OLMS New Haven Resident Investigator Office. |