Laura Dixon's attorney had insisted that his client's thefts were motivated by a concern for the welfare of union members. In the end, that would have been too much for a jury to accept. On March 13, Dixon, formerly office secretary for the Ohio and Vicinity Regional Council of Carpenters, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio to embezzling between $70,000 and a little above $170,000 from the Toledo, Ohio-based labor organization. She had been charged on February 23. The union, recently merged into an entity known as the Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters, represents about 17,000 workers in 33 locals. The actions follow a probe by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On January 25, Marqueeta Tibbs, former office secretary of United Brotherhood of Carpenters Local 437, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio to one count of embezzling funds from the Portsmouth, Ohio-based union in the amount of $84,903. A month later, on February 24, her husband, Zeffrey Tibbs, pleaded guilty to embezzlement in the same amount. Each had been indicted last September 21. The indictments and guilty pleas follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On January 18, Alyson Harmon, former office assistant and bookkeeper for United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners Local 281, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York to five years probation for embezzlement of $20,481.57 in cash receipts during July 2006-June 2008 from the now-defunct, Binghamton-based union. She also was ordered to pay $29,876.57 in restitution. Harmon was indicted last June and pleaded guilty in September. The actions follow an investigation by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On January 4, Toni Lancaster, former office manager for Millwrights & Machine Erectors Local 711, an affiliate of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon to five months home confinement and three years probation for embezzling $68,403 in funds from the Portland local. She also was ordered to pay full restitution and a $100 special assessment. Lancaster had been indicted in March 2010, and pleaded guilty in September 2011. The actions follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On September 19, Toni Lancaster, former office manager for Millrights & Machine Erectors Local 711, an affiliate of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon to embezzling funds from the Portland union. Lancaster, a resident of the Portland suburb of Milwaukie, had been indicted in March 2010 for thefts totaling about $68,000. At the time, she pleaded not guilty. Sentencing is set for this January. The indictment and guilty plea follow a probe by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
Colin Rehrig insists he's a law-abiding citizen. A federal court in Philadelphia believes otherwise. On September 27, Rehrig, former bookkeeper for United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners Local 600, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to eight months of home confinement, plus two years of probation, for embezzling more than $30,000 from the Bethlehem, Pa.-based union. He also was ordered to pay a $1,500 fine and a $100 special assessment. Rehrig had pleaded guilty in June after being charged in March.
