New York State Public Employees Union President Charged
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Email to friendJohn Vinson isn't the only former local official within New York State's mammoth Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA), an AFSCME affiliate, to be in recent trouble for embezzlement. Rank-and-file members no doubt hope he'll be the last. Vinson, president of CSEA Local 659, was arrested by state police on Wednesday, February 17, and charged with embezzling more than $70,000 from the Albany union. He was arraigned in Albany City Court and released on $10,000 bond.
Investigators allege that Vinson, 52, a resident of Cohoes, N.Y., who had headed Local 659 for most of the previous decade, stole roughly $71,000 from the union during June 2005-August 2008. The thefts were noticed after a local auditor recognized discrepancies in financial records and tipped off the authorities. The 70,000-member CSEA has had its share of problems lately. Early in 2009, Carol Bruno, former treasurer of CSEA Local 1000, pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $16,000 from that local, though court documents indicated the thefts totaled approximately $40,000. She was sentenced to three years probation in May.
