County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)

Gary Rodrigues and Robin Rodrigues Sabatini are a persistent father and daughter team.  But persistence doesn’t necessarily pay off.  And in their case, it probably shouldn’t.  Late in August the U.S. Court of Appeals, 9^th Circuit, rejected a request by the pair to have a larger panel of 15 judges rehear their appeal of convictions on dozens of charges, including mail fraud, money laundering and embezzlement.  They had been accused of defrauding the 12,000-member United Public Workers, where Rodrigues had served as state director.  Beginning in 1992, alleged prosecutors, Rodrigues funneled union “consulting” fees into his daughter’s two companies, in return receiving nonexistent work.

Michael Pingatore was clever enough to evade detection – but only for a time.  On July 23, the former secretary-treasurer of the Delaware Rural Letter Carriers Association pleaded guilty in federal court to stealing $58,908.38 from his union over a four-year period.  Pingatore, 47, during 2002-06 had diverted association funds to a personal checking account by writing unauthorized checks to himself and by starting a credit card on a union bank account without approval.  In all, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Kravetz, Pingatore conducted dozens of transactions ranging anywhere from $12 to $6,727.  At his hearing, he pleaded guilty to all six charges of embezzlement in exchange for a promise by prosecutors not to bring additional charges related to the thefts.  The union represents about 400 letter carriers in the state.  (Delaware Online, 7/23/07).          

Maryland Local Treasurer Sentenced for Embezzlement

On March 8, Keith H. Cook, former secretary-treasurer for United Transportation Union Local 620, was indicted in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois for embezzling more than $48,000 in union funds and making a false entry in union records.  Local 620 represents employees of the Burlington Santa Fe Railway in Cicero, Illinois.  (OLMS, 3/30/07). 

Michigan Secretary-Treasurer Sentenced for Cover-up of Thefts

On August 10, Lorraine Payton, former president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, Veterans Administration Council, was indicted in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana on two counts of making false reports.  Payton was accused of underreporting union income.  According to the indictment, she reported getting $11,515 from the council in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2000, plus another $6,000 in calendar year 2001.  Her actual incomes for the two periods, respectively, were $18,123 and $55,821, with secret payments going for checks, debit card and credit card transactions.  The indictment follows an investigation by the Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.  (OLMS, 8/18/06; other sources).