The checks Peter Maisel Jr. wrote weren't large, but there were plenty enough of them to get him indicted. Maisel, formerly secretary-treasurer of Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Local Lodge 1517, was charged in Denver federal court with embezzling $10,124 from the Pueblo union. The indictment, made public on February 9, indicates Maisel, 53, during May-August 2009 wrote 141 unauthorized checks and diverted them to his own purposes. The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, a division of the Teamsters Rail Conference, represents workers who build and maintain railroad tracks. The charge follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On February 16, Angela Jones, former president of Laborers International Union of North America Local 509, was charged in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri with one count of making false entries in union records related to her misuse of $5,000 in funds from the St. Louis union. The charge follows an investigation by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On February 11, Warren Demmin, former president of International Brotherhood of Boilermakers Local Lodge 449, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin to embezzling $169.12 in funds from the Sturgeon Bay union. He had been indicted in November for theft of $681.44. The guilty plea follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On February 8, Carolyn Williams, former secretary-treasurer of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 352, was ordered by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan to pay a $1,000 fine and a $100 special assessment. She previously had made restitution to the Lansing union in the amount of $9,554.14 after pleading guilty in October to embezzlement. The sentencing follows a probe by the labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
As far as operations in Maryland go, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, is no more. On Monday the group's former state co-chairwoman, Sonja Merchant-Jones, 
Like any cabinet-level agency, the U.S. Department of Labor under the Obama administration has its share of political cronies. And the department has given more than a few indications that it intends to remake DOL into a vehicle for union advocacy. The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation (NRTW) for the past year has sought the full story here. It's one of the less publicized aspects of the apparent lack of accountability in the current administration. This past December, attorneys for the Springfield, Va.-based foundation 
The indictment of Melissa King may have been a formality, but members of the union from which she allegedly stole on a staggering scale are satisfied all the same. On February 17, King, former longtime benefits administrator of Laborers International Union of North America Local 147, better known as the "Sandhogs," was 
On February 2, Donald Spell, former employee of Local 12 of UNITE HERE, the restaurant and garment employees union, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio to two years of probation for embezzling funds from the Cincinnati local. He also was ordered to pay full restitution in the amount of $16,422.83 plus a special assessment of $100. He had pleaded guilty last October. The sentencing follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On February 1, Hugo Vargas, formerly secretary-treasurer of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Lodge 845, was charged in U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada with embezzling $106,293.59 from the Las Vegas union. The charge follows a probe by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
