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Union Facts

Stage & Picture Operators

criminal charges

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.

DateDescription
February 11th, 2019On February 11, 2019, in the Worcester District Court, Darius Pourfarzaneh, former Trustee of International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 935B (located in Worcester, Mass.), was charged in a one-count complaint for Larceny Over $250, in the amount of $6,870, in violation of Massachusetts G.L. c. 266, §30(1). The charge follows an investigation by the OLMS Boston-Buffalo District Office.
March 19th, 2014On March 19, 2014, in the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island, John Brennan, former Secretary-Treasurer of International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 23 (located in Providence, R.I.), was indicted on three counts of embezzlement of labor union funds in the amount of $33,546, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 501(c); three counts of embezzlement from an employee benefit plan in the amount of $40,510, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 664; and seven counts of mail fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1341. The charges follow an investigation by the OLMS Boston-Buffalo District Office, the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General, and the Employee Benefits Security Administration.
October 3rd, 2013On October 3, 2013, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Ira Alper, former Treasurer of International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) District 9 (located in Madison, Wis.), pled guilty to one count of embezzling union funds totaling $76,768, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 501(c). On August 5, 2013, an information was filed against Alper for the same charge. The plea follows an investigation by the OLMS Chicago District Office.
August 5th, 2013On August 5, 2013, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Ira Alper, former Treasurer of International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) District 9 (located in Madison, Wis.), was charged in an information for embezzlement of union funds totaling approximately $76,768, in violation 29 U.S.C. 501(c). The charge follows an investigation by the OLMS Chicago District Office.
October 16th, 2012On October 16, 2012, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, John McNamee, President of International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 829 (located in New York, N.Y.), pled guilty to one count of embezzlement in the amount of $150,000, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 501(c). The charge follows an investigation by OLMS New York District Office.
February 16th, 2012On February 16, 2012, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, John McNamee, former President and Secretary-Treasurer of Stage & Picture Operators Local 829 (located in New York, N.Y.), was arrested following the filing of a criminal indictment for embezzling approximately $240,000 in union funds and filing false reports, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 501(c) and 29 U.S.C. 439(b). From January 2004 through February 2011, McNamee is alleged to have used the union’s corporate credit cards to make personal charges. The arrest and charge follow an investigation by the OLMS New York District Office.
May 4th, 2010On May 4, 2010, in United States District Court for the District of South Dakota, Paul Wyatt, former President/Business Manager of Stage and Picture Operators (IATSE) Local 220 (located in Sioux Falls, S.D.), was indicted on one count of embezzlement of union funds in the approximate amount of $35,022.95. The charge follows an investigation by the OLMS Minneapolis Resident Investigator Office.
October 6th, 2009On October 6, 2009, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, Teresa Cora Luna, former office manager/bookkeeper of International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 504 (located in Anaheim, Calif.), was sentenced to five months in federal prison and five months in a community corrections facility, to be followed by a three year period of supervised release and a 13-year bar from future union officer or employment service following her release. Additionally, Luna was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $67,416.21 and a $100 assessment. On September 26, 2008, Luna was charged with embezzling union funds in the same amount from November 2004 through June 2005. The sentencing follows an investigation by the OLMS Los Angeles District Office.
April 4th, 2008On April 4, 2008, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, a criminal information was filed charging Darrell Pendergrass, former President of International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 699, with one count of embezzling union funds in the amount of $70,336 and one count of willfully evading the payment of taxes. Subsequently, Pendergrass pled guilty to both counts. The criminal information and plea follow an investigation by the OLMS Washington District Office and the IRS.
January 30th, 2008On January 30, 2008, in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County, West Virginia, Timothy A. Wilson, former employee of the Stage and Picture Operators Local 271, was sentenced to two years probation for forgery. On November 16, 2007, Wilson pled guilty to a one count felony charge of forgery in the amount of $168. Prior to the investigation, Wilson paid restitution in the amount of $16,750. The sentencing follows an investigation by the OLMS Pittsburgh District Office.
August 17th, 2005On August 17, 2005, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, Kathy Jacobsen, former Secretary-Treasurer of International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts AFL-CIO (IATSE) Local 69, was charged in a two-count indictment with one count of embezzling union funds in the amount of $10,000 and one count of making false entries in union records. The indictment resulted from an investigation by the OLMS Nashville District Office.
June 17th, 2004On June 17, 2004, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Paul B. Ladner, former treasurer of Stage & Picture Operators (IATSE) Local 674, was sentenced to six months home confinement under the electronic monitoring device program followed by three years probation for failing to maintain union records. He was ordered to make restitution in the amount of $7,162.50 and to pay a $25 special assessment. On March 29, 2004, Ladner pled guilty to the charge following an investigation by the OLMS New Orleans District Office.
March 29th, 2004On March 29, 2004, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Paul Bruce Ladner, former treasurer for Stage and Picture Operators Local Union 674, pled guilty to a one count information charging him with failure to maintain union records. The guilty plea follows an investigation by the OLMS New Orleans District Office.
February 25th, 2004On February 25, 2004, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, an information was filed against Paul Bruce Ladner, former secretary-treasurer of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 674, charging him with failure to maintain union records. The charge follows an investigation by the OLMS New Orleans District Office.
June 26th, 2003On June 26, 2003, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, Don Hild, a member of the Stage and Picture Operators, Local 69, pled guilty to falsifying union records. He had been charged in an information on June 23, 2003, following an investigation by the OLMS Nashville District Office.
May 21st, 2003On May 21, 2003 in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, William Klyce, former business agent for the Stage and Picture Operators, Local 69, pled guilty to falsifying union records. He had been charged in an information on March 26, 2003, following an investigation by the OLMS Nashville District Office.
April 23rd, 2003On April 23, 2003, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, Thomas Brown, a member of Stage and Picture Operators Local 69, pled guilty to falsifying union records. Brown was charged with making and causing false entries to be made in required union records (while being aided and abetted by others) on March 26, 2003, following an investigation by the OLMS Nashville District Office.
December 12th, 2002On December 12, 2002, in the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota, Jo Ann Vaughn, former treasurer of Stage and Picture Operators Local 220, pled guilty to one count of embezzling approximately $33,000 (not exceeding $29,000 in union funds). Vaughn was indicted on October 22, 2002, on one count of embezzlement and one count of fraud for causing a false report to be made. The charges were brought following an investigation by the OLMS Minneapolis Resident Investigator Office.
November 6th, 2002On November 6, 2002, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, Tony Evans, former secretary-treasurer of Stage and Picture Operators Local 197, pled guilty to a one-count bill of information and was sentenced to six months of home confinement followed by two years of supervised probation and fined $1,000. The information charged Evans with embezzling $16,319 in union funds that he repaid prior to being sentenced. The charge was brought following an investigation by the OLMS Nashville District Office.
October 22nd, 2002On October 22, 2002, in the United States District Court for South Dakota, Jo Ann Vaughn, former treasurer of Stage and Picture Operators Local 220, was indicted on one count of causing a false report in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1001 and one count of embezzling approximately $33,000 in union funds. The charges were brought following an investigation by the OLMS Minneapolis Resident Investigator Office.
August 14th, 2002On August 14, 2002, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, Tony Evans, former treasurer of Stage and Picture Operators Local 197, pled guilty to a one-count information charging him with embezzling $16,319.56 in union funds. The charges were brought following an investigation by the OLMS Nashville District Office.
December 12th, 2001On December 12, 2001, in Winnebago County (Illinois) court, Todd Mosley and Laura Reilly, former business agent and recording secretary, respectively, of Stage & Picture Operators Local 217, were indicted for felony theft. Mosley is alleged to have taken approximately $3,126 in union funds and Reilly is alleged to have taken approximately $1,522. The charges were brought following an investigation by the OLMS Chicago District Office.
September 6th, 2001On September 6, 2001, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Keith Sharp, former business agent for Stage and Picture Operators Local 132, pled guilty to a one-count information charging him with embezzling $7,873.91 in union funds. The charges were brought following an investigation by the OLMS Cleveland District Office.