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.

Date	Description
November 15th, 2011	On November 15, 2011, in the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois (Peoria), Mary Lynn Otten, former Secretary-Treasurer of Musicians Local 26 (located in Peoria, Ill.), pled guilty to filing a false LM report, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 439(b). On November 10, 2011, a one-count information was filed charging Otten with filing a false LM-3 report for fiscal year 2008. The plea follows an investigation by the OLMS Chicago District Office.
October 27th, 2011	On October 27, 2011, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Juan P. Rios, former Secretary-Treasurer of American Federation of Musicians Local 23 (located in San Antonio, Tex.), pled guilty to one charge of embezzlement of union funds in the amount of $15,407, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 501(c). The plea follows an investigation by the OLMS Houston Resident Investigator Office.
August 6th, 2010	On August 6, 2010, in the Hamilton County (Ohio) Court of Common Pleas, Tiffany Freeman pled guilty to three counts of forgery on checks belonging to Musicians Local 1 (located in Cincinnati, Ohio). On December 2, 2009, Freeman was charged with five counts of forgery on checks totaling $2,260. The plea follows an investigation by the OLMS Cincinnati District Office.
December 2nd, 2009	On December 2, 2009, in Hamilton County (Ohio) Court of Common Pleas, the following Tiffany Freeman, Tiesha Hamer, Lavina Smith, LaDonna Turner and Britton Russia were charged with forging checks belonging to Musicians Local 1 (located in Cincinnati, Ohio). Freeman was charged with five counts of forgery totaling $2,260; Hamer was charged with one count of forgery totaling for $749; Smith, one count of forgery totaling $2,500; Turner, five counts totaling $15,800 and Russia, twelve counts of forgery totaling $21,309. Russia was also charged with receiving stolen property. The charges follow an investigation by the OLMS Cincinnati District Office.
September 23rd, 2003	On September 23, 2003, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, C. Michael Vencill, former secretary-treasurer of Musicians Local 101-473, was indicted on 59 counts of embezzling $13,034 in union funds, two counts of filing false reports, and one count of making false entries in union records. The charges were brought following an investigation by the OLMS Cincinnati District Office.
September 19th, 2002	On September 19, 2002, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Pedro Ojeda, former secretary-treasurer of Musicians Local 23, pled guilty to one count of embezzling an unspecified amount of union funds. He had been charged in a two-count indictment on July 3, 2002, following an investigation by the OLMS New Orleans District Office.
July 3rd, 2002	On July 3, 2002, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Pedro Ojeda, former secretary-treasurer of Musicians Local 23, was indicted on one count of embezzling an unspecified amount of union funds and one count of falsifying union records. The charges were brought following an investigation by the OLMS New Orleans District Office.
December 4th, 2001	On December 4, 2001, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, Thomas C. Bailey, former president and business manager of Musicians Local 136, and his wife, Deborah S. Bailey, an employee of the local, were indicted on charges of embezzling $15,601 in union funds. The charges were brought following an investigation by the OLMS Pittsburgh District Office.
November 29th, 2001	On November 29, 2001, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Steven Call, former president of Musicians Local 150, pled guilty to an information charging him with embezzling $18,536 in union funds. The charges were brought following an investigation by the OLMS St. Louis District Office.
October 23rd, 2001	On October 23, 2001, in the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, Paul Morgan, former secretary-treasurer of Musicians Local 694, was indicted on one count of embezzling $6,950 in union funds. The charges were brought following an investigation by the OLMS Atlanta District Office.
February 5th, 2001	On February 5, 2001, in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Barry James, former president of Musicians Local 389, pled guilty to a one-count information for filing a false labor organization annual financial report. The charges were brought following an investigation by the OLMS Atlanta District Office.