On May 5, Peter Rhein, former treasurer of American Federation of Teachers Local 3845, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to five years probation and ordered to make additional restitution in the amount of $28,145.76 plus a special assessment of $1,400. He previously had paid $14,500 in restitution. Rhein in February had pleaded guilty to forging union checks totaling $43,600 to cover personal expenses during October 2002-February 2008 and then falsifying union records. The sentencing follows an investigation by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards. (Philadelphia Inquirer, 2/4/09; OLMS, 5/22/09).
Denial isn't an option for Benardette Beal anymore. On February 24, Beal, former president of Downeast Federation of Healthcare Professionals Local 5073, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the District of Maine to eight months in prison and two years of supervised release for embezzling $25,536.91 in union funds over a six-year period. She also was ordered to pay $24,131.32 in restitution plus a $100 special assessment.
On August 27, Benardette Beal, former president of Downeast Federation of Healthcare Professionals Local 5073, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, pled guilty in U.S. District Court for the District of Maine to embezzling union funds in the amount of $25,536.91. The local is based in Milbridge, along Maine's eastern coast. The guilty plea follows an investigation by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
Laura Ann Brown's ruse ended last fall. Now she'll have five years to think about it. Brown, formerly president of American Federation of Teachers Local 5095 in Butte, Montana, 
Laura Ann Brown headed a union representing employees at a youth mental health facility. What rank and file didn't know is that their boss had serious issues of her own. Brown, formerly president of American Federation of Teachers Local 5095, 
On September 22, Laura Brown, formerly president of American Federation of Teachers Local 5095, was charged in federal court with embezzling $7,700 in funds from the Butte, Montana union, which represents non-management staff at a residential youth treatment center. Prosecutors say the thefts occurred sometime from late 2004 to late 2008. Brown pleaded not guilty at her hearing.
