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Criminal Convictions

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 15th, 2008	On September 15, 2008, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Keith H. Cook, former Secretary Treasurer of United Transportation Union (UTU) Local 620 (located in Chicago, Ill.), was convicted of embezzling union funds in the amount of $48,287 and willfully making false entries on union checks.On March 8, 2007, Cook was charged with one count embezzling union funds in the same amount and one count of willfully making a false entry in union records. The conviction follows a joint investigation by the OLMS Chicago District Office and the Department of Labors Office of the Inspector General.
December 14th, 2005	On December 14, 2005, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, Michelle Turney Thurlough, former secretary/bookkeeper for Plumbers Local 614 in Memphis, was sentenced to three years probation and ordered to make restitution in the amount of $23,172.59. This amount represents the $7,823.80 charged in the indictment as embezzled funds plus an additional $15,348.79 in auditing bills incurred by the union as a result of Thurlough's actions. Thurlough previously entered a guilty plea on September 1, 2005. The conviction follows an investigation by the OLMS Nashville District Office.
November 29th, 2005	On November 29, 2005, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, Michael Rice, former President of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 538, was sentenced to six months imprisonment, six months home confinement, three years probation, and ordered to make full restitution, for embezzling union funds totaling $30,210.92. Rice entered a guilty plea on September 19, 2005. The conviction follows an investigation by the OLMS Milwaukee District Office.
July 15th, 2004	On July 15, 2004, in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon, Dennis Paul Talbott, former secretary-treasurer of Sheet Metal Workers Local 33, was sentenced to three years probation and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine. Talbott pled guilty to one count of accepting a gratuity in connection with his duties as a trustee of an employee benefit plan. The gratuity he accepted involved hunting and fishing trips paid for by Capital Consultants (CCL). CCL was involved in the loss of over 350 million dollars-mostly from union pension funds. The conviction follows an investigation by the OLMS Seattle District Office, the IRS, the FBI, the Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General and the Employee Benefit Security Administration. [Related documents: HTML |PDF]
September 25th, 2003	On September 25, 2003, in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, James Hubler, the former financial secretary of Steelworkers Local 14375, was sentenced to three months and three days imprisonment for embezzling $27,226 in union funds. The sentence will run concurrently with Hubler's present sentence from an unrelated conviction. Following the prison term, Hubler will be on a two year supervised release. He was ordered to make restitution in the amount of $24,186.79 in monthly installments of at least $5.00. Hubler pled guilty to the charge on January 23, 2003. The sentence and guilty plea follow an investigation by the OLMS Philadelphia District Office. [Related documents: HTML | PDF]

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