Tools

Find Your Union

Blog

Locomotive Engineers

Criminal Charges

Office of Labor-Management Enforcement

The Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) conducts both civil and criminal investigations of alleged violations of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) and related laws.

These investigations by OLMS District Offices involve issues such as embezzlements of union funds, union officer elections, the filing of required reports by unions and others with OLMS, and the imposition of trusteeships over subordinate unions by a parent body. These investigations may result in legal enforcement actions.

Date	Description
September 26th, 2006	On September 26, 2006, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Lawrence Marable and Deborah Powell, former President and Treasurer, respectively, of AFGE 1793 were each charged with five counts of theft of property in the special territorial jurisdiction of the United States, one count of making false statements in labor organization annual reports, and one count of conspiracy to steal property in the special territorial jurisdiction of the United States in the amount of $187,000. The charges follow a joint investigation by the OLMS Philadelphia District Office and the Department of Veterans Affairs' Office of Inspector General.
August 25th, 2003	On August 25, 2003, in United States District Court for the District of Wyoming, Douglas W. Rodda, former secretary and treasurer of the Locomotive Engineers, Division 245, pled guilty to a three-count information charging him with embezzling $26,150 in union funds, willfully making false entries in union records, and making false statements in a report required to be filed with the Secretary of Labor. Rodda wrote checks payable to himself and his wife for fraudulent expenses and concealed the checks from other union officials. The charges were brought following an investigation by the OLMS Denver District Office. [Related documents: HTML \| PDF]
August 26th, 2010	On August 26, 2010, in the Mower County, Minnesota District Court, Dustin Heichel, former General Chairman of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) Regional and Shortline General Committee of Adjustment (GCA) (located in Albert Lea, Minn.), was charged with four counts of theft by false representation totaling $1,562.12. The charges follow an investigation by the OLMS Milwaukee District Office and Minneapolis Resident Investigator Office.
February 6th, 2008	On February 6, 2008, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Chad Mowery, former Secretary-Treasurer of BLE Division 282, was charged with embezzling $2,537 in union funds. The charge follows an investigation by the OLMS Cincinnati District Office.
May 18th, 2005	On May 18, 2005, James M. Duff was sentenced to nine years and ten months incarceration and three years of supervised release. He was ordered to make restitution to the City of Chicago in the amount of $10,933,016. In addition, Duff was ordered to make restitution to the National Council on Compensation Insurance's (NCCI) assigned risk pool in Illinois in the amount of $1.09 million for which co-defendant John J. Leahy is jointly and severally liable. Also, he was ordered to forfeit $10 million, in addition to an assessment of the bill of costs for prosecution of $55,505.62, and a special assessment of $3,300. On January 10, 2005, Duff pled guilty to the charges. [Related documents: HTML \| PDF]
May 19th, 2005	On May 19, 2005, John J. Leahy, president of Leahy & Associates insurance brokerage, was sentenced to three years and ten months incarceration. He was ordered to be jointly and severally liable with co-defendant James M. Duff for restitution of $1.09 million to the NCCI assigned risk pool. In addition, Leahy was ordered to pay a special assessment of $800. On February 24, 2005, Leahy was convicted of the charges. [Related documents: HTML \| PDF]
May 5th, 2008	On May 5, 2008, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Chad M. Mowery, former Treasurer of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLET) Division 282 (located in Springdale, Ohio), pled guilty to embezzling union funds in the amount of $2,537.00. On February 6, 2008, Mowery was charged with one count of embezzling union funds in the same amount. The plea follows an investigation by the OLMS Cincinnati District Office.
November 10th, 2008	On November 10, 2008, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, Michelle Trinh, former assistant administrator of the Writers Guild of America-West Foreign Levies Fund, was sentenced to five years probation, 100 hours of community service, ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $17,228 and a $100 special assessment. Trinh will be barred from union employment or holding union office for a period of 13 years. On February 28, 2008, Trinh was charged with conspiracy to embezzle and embezzlement of union funds in the same amount. From December 2006 to February 2007, Trinh and her accomplice, Tracy Howze, conspired to falsify the unions database by creating Howze as a beneficiary of the foreign levies fund, and releasing union checks payable to Howze which they later cashed and split for personal expenses.The charges follow an investigation by the OLMS Los Angeles District Office.
November 20th, 2008	On November 20, 2008, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Charles Bohanon, former Secretary-Treasurer of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLET) Division 1 (located in Petersburg, Mich.), pled guilty to embezzling union funds in the amount of $18,074.23.On September 16, 2008, Bohanon had been charged with embezzling union funds in the same amount. The plea follows an investigation by the OLMS Detroit District Office.
September 16th, 2008	On September 16, 2008, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, an information was filed charging Charles Bohanon, former Secretary-Treasurer of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) Division 1 (located in Petersburg, Mich.), with one count of embezzling union funds in the amount of $18,074.23. The charge follows an investigation by the OLMS Detroit District Office.
September 30th, 2008	On September 30, 2008, in the District Court of Dakota County, Minnesota, Jonathan David Thompson, former Secretary-Treasurer of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLE) Division 333 (located in Rosemount, Minn.), was charged with two felony counts of financial transaction card fraud and two felony counts of theft by swindle.Thompson is alleged to have taken union funds in the amount of $8,767.94. The charge follows an investigation by the Minneapolis Resident Investigator Office.