Carl Horowitz's blog

Daniel Greg Gibson wasn't very attentive to detail. That's why he'll be spending a year in prison. Gibson, formerly president of Local 2250 of the American Federation of Government Employees, was sentenced on July 16 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma to a year and one day in prison to be followed by 24 months of supervised release for thefts from the union, which represents employees of the Muskogee VA Medical Center. He also will have to pay $33,986.39 in restitution. The sentencing follows a probe by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Labor-Management Standards.

On April 30, Lucy Hastings, former recording secretary for Local 1969 of the American Federation of Government Employees, was charged in the District Court of Hennepin County, Minnesota with theft of $3,328.29 in union funds. The local represents employees of the VA Hospital in Minneapolis. The charge follows a probe by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.

On April 28, Jamie Nielsen, former president of National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 13, was charged in the 60th District Court of Muskegon County, Michigan with one count of embezzlement of $200 or more but less than $1,000 from the Muskegon-based local. The charge follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.

Steven McDeid is not in the best of shape, but he'll still have to repay his debts. On July 8, McDeid, formerly president of National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 388, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota to 90 days of home confinement and five years of probation for embezzling funds from the St. Cloud union. He also will have to pay $51,639.61 in restitution and a $100 special assessment, plus perform 150 hours of community service. He had pleaded guilty in March following a probe by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.

For four years Donna LeAnn Cooper used her union credit card to enrich her bottom line. She's lucky she likely won't be doing as much time behind bars. Cooper, a former office employee with Laborers International Union of North America Local 888, pleaded guilty on July 15 in Muskogee, Oklahoma federal court to embezzling $69,000 from the Muskogee local. She is currently free on bond awaiting sentencing.

Misuse of Legal Services Corporation funds is nothing new. The most publicized cases typically involve lawsuits by affiliated nonprofit legal groups that run contrary to the LSC charter. Recent months, however, have witnessed a different kind of problem: use of public money for private pleasure. New reports by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the LSC Office of Inspector General, plus a lengthy summary article by the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Integrity, highlight acts of theft or excessive spending at recipient organizations of LSC funds and a lack of internal controls by top LSC officials. As the Legal Services Corp. budget is currently $420 million, taxpayers have every reason to be concerned.

On April 27, Joan Boucher, former treasurer of Staff Union Local 399, was indicted in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California for embezzling funds from the Los Angeles union in the amount of $11,845. The indictment follows a probe by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.

On April 22, Karl Youngerman, Woodrow Anderson and Anthony Green, former officers of Glass, Molders, Pottery, Plastics & Allied Workers International Union Local 208, were indicted in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, embezzling union funds, making false entries in union records and filing false reports. Youngerman, Anderson and Green were, respectively, president, treasurer and recording secretary of the Bradenton union. The indictments follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.

To win a conviction in a criminal case requires establishing opportunity, means and motive. Recent testimony in the ongoing corruption trial of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich reveals more than a few clues as to the motive part. Blagojevich and his wife, Patti, as it turns out, had about $200,000 in outstanding consumer debt at the time of his December 2008 arrest. Anxiety, if not desperation, over how to pay the money back was likely a major explanation for the ex-governor's eagerness to peddle President-Elect Barack Obama's soon-to-be-vacated Senate seat to the highest bidder. Worse, Mrs. Blagojevich's real estate firm during 2002-04 apparently received roughly $150,000 or more in suspect "consulting" and other fees from a company co-owned by Obama's original paymaster, now-jailed (and awaiting sentencing) real estate developer/political kingmaker Tony Rezko. The revelations reinforce the popular image of the couple as willing to do anything for money.

On April 20, Rebecca James, former financial secretary-treasurer of International Guards Union of America Local 123, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi to three years supervised probation for embezzling funds from the Port Gibson, Miss. union. She pled guilty in January. James also will have to pay $11,027.30 in restitution and a special assessment of $100. The union's former president, Ron Quinn, had been sentenced in March to six months home confinement and three years probation. He, too, must pay restitution in the same amount. The actions follow a probe by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.