Union Corruption Update

As a police officer, Gene Tomatani didn't have to be told that stealing from his union and his employer was illegal. At least now he's acknowledged as much. On February 10, Tomatani, a former officer with Redondo Beach, California police force, pleaded guilty in Los Angeles County Superior Court to embezzlement of more than $75,000, mainly from the local police officers association. Under the reported settlement, he will receive a sentence later this month of 90 days in jail, three years of probation, and one year at meetings of Gamblers Anonymous.

On January 21, Sonia McGuire, former treasurer of American Postal Workers Union Local 3434, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia to five years probation, the first six months of which must be served in home detention, for embezzling funds from the Decatur, Ga. union. She also will have to pay $16,023.12 in restitution and a $100 special assessment. McGuire had pleaded guilty in November to embezzling funds in the same amount. The sentencing follows a probe by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.

On January 21, Jacqueline Kiedrowicz, former president of United Steelworkers of America Local 1200, was charged in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio with one count of making false entries in financial records of the Canton union. The charge follows a probe by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.

On January 15, Ray Horton, a former employee of United Steelworkers of America Local 9443 in Robards, Ky., was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky to three years probation, including four months of community confinement, for embezzlement and mail fraud from the union. He also will have to pay $43,816.29 in restitution and $200 in court costs. He had pleaded guilty in October to stealing nearly $20,000 in local funds. The sentencing follows a probe by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.

On January 12, Ron Quinn and Rebecca James, respectively, the former president and secretary-treasurer of International Guards Union of America Local 123 in Port Gibson, Miss., pleaded guilty to embezzling union funds in the amount of $11,147.30. The pair had been charged in July with conspiracy and embezzlement during the period January-August 2008. The guilty pleas follow a probe by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.

Sherri Patrick isn't the communicative type. She'll likely become one, however, not long from now. Patrick's former employer, the Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT), an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, on February 8 filed a criminal complaint with the Detroit Police Department alleging that she'd embezzled $75,000 in union funds. Patrick had served as the union's business manager until last spring and as a member of the Highland Park School Board until late January, citing "personal issues."

Sherrell Mitchell was the gambling type. She now wishes she wasn't. On January 5, Mitchell, formerly secretary-treasurer for Local 86823 of Communications Workers of America, was charged in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri with one count of embezzling in excess of $110,000 from the St. Louis union. She then pleaded guilty. Prosecutors alleged that Mitchell, 45, a resident of St. Louis County, over a more than seven-year period made out local checks to herself and made cash withdrawals from the account. She lost much of the money at a local casino. The actions follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.

James Miles has plenty of reasons to fear a trial - more than 350 of them, in fact. Miles, formerly treasurer of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1023, pleaded not guilty in Riverside, Calif. federal court on February 3 to charges related to his theft of more than $93,000 from the Barstow union over four and a half years. A grand jury on January 13 had indicted him on one count of embezzlement, nine counts of mail fraud and two counts of filing false financial statements with the U.S. Department of Labor. He also allegedly filed false federal and state tax returns on behalf of himself and the union. A pretrial hearing is set for March 22.

A public school teachers union in north central Ilinois is taking legal action against its local school board in a case created by a former board employee who may have been corrupt as well as deficient. Last week, the Woodland Education Association filed an unfair labor practices complaint with the Illinois Education Labor Relations Board alleging the board lacks the authority to demand all at once the more than $200,000 in overpayments over four years to active and retired teachers. The union has expressed its willingness to repay all the money, but not until certain details have been resolved.