Musicians (AFM)

Buffalo, N.Y. Ex-Local President Sentenced for Thefts

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 12/18/2006 - 01:00

Mark Jones was a full-time union leader in the Buffalo, N.Y. area, serving as president of Local 92 of the American Federation of Musicians and secretary-treasurer of the New York State Conference of Musicians. Unfortunately, he also was a part-time thief, embezzling a combined $75,000 from the two organizations during 2002-05. On November 28, Jones, 48, was sentenced in federal court to two years probation and six months community service. He had pleaded guilty back in July to stealing $40,738.17 from Local 92 and $34,672 from the state conference. He since has made full restitution. An audit by the Department of Labor turned up a pattern of irregularities, which in turn triggered a criminal investigation. Jones also had been a board member of the Musicians International Union and, for a year, head of the Buffalo AFL-CIO Labor Council. He resigned from the latter organization, citing as the main reason an ongoing battle with depression. (OLMS, 12/1/06; other sources).

Ex-Niagara Falls, N.Y. Steward Sentenced for Making Threats

Former Buffalo, N.Y. Musicians Union Head Pleads Guilty

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 08/14/2006 - 00:00

Depression can strike anyone. But when Mark R. Jones was afflicted, his response was to rip off his union. On July 26, Jones pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to embezzling $74,000 from local and state affiliates of the American Federation of Musicians. He had served as president and secretary-treasurer of Musicians Local 92 and secretary-treasurer of the New York State Conference of Musicians. He also had headed the Buffalo AFL-CIO Council until his resignation last December from that 98,000-member body. He cited as his main reason an ongoing battle with depression.

Frmr. NYC Union Boss Admits Stealing Funds to Buy Gifts for Castro

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 01/31/2005 - 01:00

A former exec. of the agency that collects royalties for the American Federation of Musicians admitted on Jan. 17 that he stole $200,000 to buy jewelry, a trip to Cuba and expensive champagne for Fidel Castro. Enex Steele pled guilty in Manhattan's state Supreme Court to second-degree grand larceny, admitting that he stole money from the union fund into which recording companies pay royalties that are forwarded to recording artists.

Ex-Ofc. Secy. Charged with Embezzlement in Ore.

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 08/16/2004 - 00:00

On July 28, in the U.S. Dist. Ct. for Oregon, Joy Torrance, former ofc. secy. of Local 1094 of the United Bhd. Of Carpenters, was indicted for embezzling approximately $39,881 in union funds. The charge alleged that she wrote unauthorized pay checks to herself and third parties from the union's checking, savings and money market accounts. The charge further alleged that Torrance used the union's business credit card without authorization. The indictment follows an investigation by the Seattle Dist. Ofc.

Ex-NYC Boss Stole Union Funds to Buy Champagne for Castro

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 08/02/2004 - 00:00

Enex Steele was arraigned in a Manhattan court on July 28 for allegedly embezzling $400,000 from a royalty fund controlled by the Amer. Fedtn. of Musicians. According to Manhattan D.A. Robert Morgenthau, Steele was director of the union's Sound Recording Special Payments Fund, through which $15-20 million in royalty payments are forwarded every yr. to performers belonging to the AFM.

Ex-Local President Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement in Montana Court

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 10/13/2003 - 00:00

Michael La Forge pled guilty on Oct. 9 to stealing $14,622 in union rebate checks from the members of AFL-CIO Local 224 in Hardin, Mont. He admitted in the U.S. Dist. Ct. for Mont., that he stole the checks in 1998 and '99, when he was the Local's president. Then in 1999, he falsely claimed that the money had been stolen from his parked car on the Local's financial disclosure form filed with the U.S. Dept. of Labor. He will be sentenced on Dec. 30 [Billings Gazette, 10/10/03]

Ex-CA Bus. Mgr. Sentenced for Embezzlement, Falsification

Submitted by David Kendrick on Mon, 10/14/2002 - 00:00

On Sept. 25, 2002, in the U.S. Dist. Ct. for the Eastern Dist. of Calif., Jeremias Lopez, former business manager of Laborers Local 220, was sentenced to ten months confinement followed by twelve months of supervised release, ordered to pay $10,814 in restitution to the union's bonding company, ordered to pay a special assessment of $25, and ordered to be subject to regular drug testing. The court recommended that the sentence be served at the Turning Point drug/alcohol rehabilitation center in Bakersfield.

On July 10, 2002, Lopez pled guilty to falsifying union records and admitted embezzling receipts from the Laborers Intl. Union of N. Amer. of between $10,000 and $30,000 following an investigation by the Los Angeles branch of the U.S. Ofc. of Labor-Mgmt. Standards. [DOL OLMS 10/3/02]

Ex-MI Pres. Admits Theft from Defunct Union
Isador Hampton, frmr. president of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 835, pled guilty on Oct. 3 to embezzling $10,389 from the union, even after it was merged into another Local. Hampton entered his plea in the U.S. Dist. Ct. for the East. Dist. of Mich.

Ex-WI Secy.-Treas. Sentenced for $60K Theft

Submitted by David Kendrick on Mon, 09/16/2002 - 00:00

On September 6, 2002, in the U.S. Dist. Ct. for the East. Dist. of Wisc., David Dobry, former Secy.-Treas. of Boilermakers Lodge 177, was sentenced to five months imprisonment followed by five months of home detention followed by three years of supervision. He was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $61,510. He pled guilty to embezzling $61,510 in union funds on July 2, 2002, following an investigation by the Milwaukee branch of the U.S. Dept. of Labor's Ofc. of Labor-Mgmt. Standards. [DOL OLMS 9/12/02]

Missouri Boss Sentenced for $18,500 Embezzlement

Submitted by Michael Nelson on Mon, 05/13/2002 - 00:00

U.S. Dist. Judge Ortrie D. Smith (W.D. Mo., Clinton) sentenced admitted union embezzler J. Steven Call Apr. 23 to five years probation, 250 hours of community service and ordered him to make full restitution of $18,536. Call was the president of Am. Fed'n Musicians Local 150, which represented entertainers in Mo., Kan., Okla., and Ark. Call pled guilty Nov. 29 and admitted embezzling funds from the Branson, Mo., based local .

His scheme ran from Apr. 1997 to Mar. 1999. The local was first placed in trusteeship by the int'l union due to financial difficulties in 1995. Then as the the trusteeship was ending, int'l trustee Theresa Gafford made a poor judgment and groomed Call to run the local. He was elected president and secretary-treasurer in Apr. 1997. In an apparent cost-cutting move, Call relocated the local's office to his leased house in May 1997. He received no salary from the local, but the local's board agreed to pay him $100 for rent and utility-related costs of running the local out of his home plus any expense he incurred in the course of his work for the local.

Indicted West Virginia Boss Resigns, Accused of Playing Favorites in Job Assignments

Submitted by Michael Nelson on Mon, 02/18/2002 - 01:00

Indicted union boss Tom Bailey, facing internal pressure from his union, agreed to resign from the Am. Fed'n of Musicians Local 136's eight-member board of directors effective Dec. 31. He remains a member of the Charleston, W. Va., based local. In Dec., Bailey and his wife, Deborah, were indicted on federal union embezzlement charges and accused of embezzling some $15,000 from the local. Their criminal trial is scheduled for Mar. 26.

New local president Brad Bradley held a meeting Feb. 10 to tell members about changes that will be made in the local. "We're going to try to redirect the union focus back to a more service-friendly organization," Bradley said. "We're really wanting to change things around."