On April 22, Karl Youngerman, Woodrow Anderson and Anthony Green, former officers of Glass, Molders, Pottery, Plastics & Allied Workers International Union Local 208, were indicted in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, embezzling union funds, making false entries in union records and filing false reports. Youngerman, Anderson and Green were, respectively, president, treasurer and recording secretary of the Bradenton union. The indictments follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On April 30, Stanley Teasley, formerly secretary-treasurer of International Association of Machinists Local 1426, was sentenced in the Woodbury County (Iowa) Court to ten years in prison for theft of $17,525 from the Sioux City union. The sentencing follows a probe by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On April 30, Lucy Hastings, former recording secretary for Local 1969 of the American Federation of Government Employees, was charged in the District Court of Hennepin County, Minnesota with theft of $3,328.29 in union funds. The local represents employees of the VA Hospital in Minneapolis. The charge follows a probe by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
Steven McDeid is not in the best of shape, but he'll still have to repay his debts. On July 8, McDeid, formerly president of National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 388, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota to 90 days of home confinement and five years of probation for embezzling funds from the St. Cloud union. He also will have to pay $51,639.61 in restitution and a $100 special assessment, plus perform 150 hours of community service. He had pleaded guilty in March following a probe by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
For four years Donna LeAnn Cooper used her union credit card to enrich her bottom line. She's lucky she likely won't be doing as much time behind bars. Cooper, a former office employee with Laborers International Union of North America Local 888, pleaded guilty on July 15 in Muskogee, Oklahoma federal court to embezzling $69,000 from the Muskogee local. She is currently free on bond awaiting sentencing.
On April 20, Kelly Fahrenkopf, former vice president of Civil Service Employees Association Local 316, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York to one count of embezzling over $11,500 in funds from the West Coxsackie (Greene County) union. The union is affiliated with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The guilty plea follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
