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
January 8th, 2013	On January 8, 2013, in the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas in Ohio, Chad Petras, former Secretary Treasurer of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 342C (located in Rising Sun, Ind.), was indicted on one count of theft of union funds in the amount of $1,000 or more, in violation of Ohio Revised Code 2913.02(A)(2)[F5]. The charge follows an investigation by the OLMS Cincinnati District Office.
April 8th, 2011	On April 8, 2011, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Patsy Fontenot, former International Representative for United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 790C (located in Lena, Miss.), was sentenced to one year of probation. She was also ordered to pay a $100 special assessment fee and a $1,000 fine. Fontenot previously made restitution in the amount of $6,943.15. On January 20, 2011, Fontenot pled guilty to a one-count indictment for embezzling union funds. The sentencing follows an investigation by the OLMS New Orleans District Office.
January 20th, 2011	On January 20, 2011, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Patsy Fontenot, former International Representative for United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 790C (located in Lena, Miss.), pled guilty to a one-count indictment for embezzling union funds between November 2002 and March 2006 in the amount of $6,943.15. Sentencing is scheduled for April 8, 2011. The plea follows an investigation by the OLMS New Orleans District Office.
August 18th, 2010	On August 18, 2010, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Patsy Fontenot, former International Representative for the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), was indicted on one count of embezzling $6,943.15 from UFCW Local 790C (located in Pearl, Miss.) between November 2002 and March 2006. The indictment follows an investigation by the OLMS New Orleans District Office.
January 13th, 2006	On January 13, 2006, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, Rebecca Bandt, former President of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 717, pled guilty to one count of embezzling union funds totaling $14,065. Bandt had previously been indicted on September 14, 2005, in a 14-count indictment consisting of five counts of embezzling union funds, five counts of falsifying union records, and four counts of making a false statement on a required report. The guilty plea follows an investigation by the OLMS Milwaukee District Office.
September 14th, 2005	On September 14, 2005, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, Rebecca Bandt, former President of Local 717, United Food and Commercial Workers, was indicted on five counts of embezzling union funds totaling $14,064, five counts of making a false statement in a required record, and four counts of filing false reports with the Department of Labor. The indictment alleges that Bandt wrote 43 unauthorized checks to herself, attempted to conceal the embezzlement by falsifying the payee or amount on 32 checks recorded in Local 717's disbursement journal, and falsely reported the total payments to her on Labor Organization Annual Reports Form LM-3 by reporting amounts that were less than she actually received. The indictment follows an investigation by the OLMS Milwaukee District Office.
June 8th, 2004	On June 8, 2004, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Brian Brabazon, former president of Chemical Workers Local 294 (United Food and Commercial Workers), was sentenced for making a willful false entry in union records. Brabazon pled guilty to the charge on March 5, 2004. He was initially indicted in September 2003, on one count of embezzling union funds; he later pled guilty to the lesser charge. Brabazon was sentenced to one year of probation, restitution in the amount of $3,672.84, and a $100 fine (which was waived). The guilty plea and sentence follow an investigation by the OLMS San Francisco District Office.
May 17th, 2004	On May 17, 2004, in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, Barbara Ann Hayes, former bookkeeper and office secretary for United Food & Commercial Workers Local 990, was indicted on 35 counts of embezzling $27,248.82 in union funds The charges follow an investigation by the OLMS Denver District Office.
March 5th, 2004	On March 5, 2004, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Brian Brabazon, former president of Local 294 of the United Food and Commercial Workers (Chemical Workers Union Council) pled guilty to making a willful false entry in a union record. Brabazon had been indicted in September 2003 on one count of embezzling $3672.84 in union funds. In a plea agreement, a superseding information was filed and Brabazon pled guilty to the misdemeanor false records charge. The guilty plea follows an investigation by the OLMS San Francisco District Office.
September 24th, 2003	On September 24, 2003, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Brian Brabazon, former President of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 294-C, was indicted on one count of embezzlement. The indictment stated that in May 2001, Brabazon wrote an unauthorized check to himself in the amount of $3672.84 for expenses at a union conference he never attended. The indictment followed an investigation by the OLMS San Francisco District Office.