For almost two and a half years, Tammy Smith used her union as a cash dispensary. She now wishes she hadn't. On February 17, Smith, former secretary of International Union of Painters and Allied Trades Local 1922 in Billings, Montana, pleaded guilty in federal court to embezzling more than $11,000. Smith, 40, a resident of Billings, began working for the local in 2002. According to federal prosecutors from May 2004 until December 2006 Smith diverted dues payments into a personal bank account and wrote union checks to herself or to cash. At her May 19 sentencing, she faces a maximum five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
On October 24, 
Ephram Pascall's job training seminars had something missing: trainees. Now he's out of a job himself and likely to do hard time. Pascall, former president and business manager of International Union of Painters and Allied Trades Local 1422, pleaded guilty on July 6 in Manhattan federal court to one count of embezzling nearly $35,000 from the Manhattan-based local. He had been indicted in April following an investigation by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards. The defendant, said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, "treated the union coffers like his personal piggy bank."
All things considered, Tammy Smith is a lucky woman. Smith, formerly secretary for International Union of Painters and Allied Trades Local 1922, was sentenced on May 19 in U.S. District Court for the District of Montana to serve two and a half years of probation and ordered to pay restitution and a $500 fine for embezzling more than $11,000 in funds from the Billings union. She pleaded guilty in February following a Labor Department investigation.
