On November 4, Michelle Jean Nelson, ex-president of Communications Workers of America Local 7272, entered an Alford plea in Polk County (Minn.) Circuit Court to felony theft by false representation in an amount between $1,000 and $5,000 from the Erskine, Minn. (near Grand Forks, N.D.) union. An Alford plea is a guilty plea, but one in which the defendant does not admit committing the alleged act, but instead concedes that the evidence for a conviction is sufficient beyond a reasonable doubt. Nelson had been charged in March. The charge and Alford plea follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On March 29, Tammy Greene, former financial secretary for Local 83793 of the Communications Workers of America, was indicted in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama on one count of embezzlement totaling $31,076.07 from the Selma-based union. The indictment follows a probe by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On February 6, Michelle Jean Nelson, former president of Communications Workers of America Local 7272, was sentenced to 45 days home confinement and 10 years probation for theft from the Erskine, Minn. (near Grand Forks, N.D.) union. She also was ordered to pay $4,634.22 in restitution, plus a $100 fine and $160 in special assessments and fees. Nelson in November 2011 entered an 
On January 10, Natasha Bever, former treasurer of Communications Workers of America Local 4202, was indicted in U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois on one count of issuing unauthorized payroll checks to herself in the amount of $117,378. The union is based in Rantoul, Ill., near Champaign-Urbana. The indictment follows a probe by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
One of the defining features of union activism during the Obama years has been a heavy reliance on federal agencies and courts to do things that Congress isn't likely to do, especially now that Republicans hold a majority in the House. Sometimes merely waiting for the right ruling can pay off. On December 16, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia 
On March 25, James Drury, former secretary-treasurer of Communications Workers of America Local 3121, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida to two years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release for the theft of $306,757.53 during December 2005-March 2009 from the Hialeah, Fla. union. He also will have to pay $186,757.53 in restitution and a $100 special assessment. Drury had been charged in December 2010 and pleaded guilty in January. The sentencing follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
