Service Employees

Embezzlement 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
August 31st, 2010	On August 31, 2010, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, Kelly J. Fahrenkopf, former Vice President of AFSCME, Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) Local 316 (located in West Coxsackie, N.Y.),was sentenced to one year imprisonment followed by three years of probation and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $11,500. On April 20, 2010, Fahrenkopf pled guilty to one count of embezzling over $11,500 in union funds between August 2006 and March 2007. The plea follows an investigation by the OLMS Buffalo District Office.
June 24th, 2010	On June 24, 2010, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Pamela Williams, former travel procurement coordinator of SEIU Local 880 (located in Chicago, Ill.), was sentenced to five years probation, five months of electronic monitoring/home confinement (except for work), and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $6,080.06. Also, Williams was ordered to perform 300 hours of community service and pay a special assessment of $100. On March 25, 2010, Williams pled guilty to embezzling union funds in the amount of $6080.06. The sentencing follows an investigation by the OLMS Chicago District Office.
April 20th, 2010	On April 20, 2010, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, Kelly J. Fahrenkopf, former Vice President of AFSCME, Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA), Local 316 (located in West Coxsackie, N.Y.) pled guilty to one count of embezzling over $11,500 in union funds between August 2006 and March 2007. The plea follows an investigation by the OLMS Buffalo District Office.
February 17th, 2010	On February 17, 2010, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, an information was filed charging Pamela Williams, former travel/procurement coordinator of Service Employees Union Local 880 (located in Chicago, Ill.), with one count of embezzling union funds in the amount of $6,080. The charge follows an investigation by the OLMS Chicago District Office.
May 14th, 2009	On May 14, 2009, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, Carol Bruno, former Treasurer of AFSCME, Civil Service Employees Association Region 4 (located in Albany, N.Y.), was sentenced to ten months of home confinement, three years of probation and ordered to make total restitution in the amount of $40,451.03 for embezzling union funds. Bruno was also ordered to enter into substance abuse counseling and attend credit counseling. On January 7, 2009, Bruno pled guilty to one count of embezzling union funds in the amount of $16,118.57. On October 9, 2008, Bruno was charged with embezzling union funds, between March 2004 and March 2006, in the same amount. The sentence follows an investigation by the OLMS Buffalo District Office.
May 14th, 2009	On May 14, 2009, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, Carol Bruno, former Treasurer of AFSCME, Civil Service Employees Association Region 4 (located in Albany, N.Y.), was sentenced to ten months of home confinement, three years of probation and ordered to make total restitution in the amount of $40,451.03 for embezzling union funds. Bruno was also ordered to enter into substance abuse counseling and attend credit counseling. On January 7, 2009, Bruno pled guilty to one count of embezzling union funds in the amount of $16,118.57. On October 9, 2008, Bruno was charged with embezzling union funds, between March 2004 and March 2006, in the same amount. The sentence follows an investigation by the OLMS Buffalo District Office.
January 7th, 2009	On January 7, 2009, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, Carol Bruno, former Treasurer of AFSCME, Civil Service Employees Association Region 4 (located in Albany, N.Y.), pled guilty to one count of embezzling union funds in the amount of $16,118.57. On October 9, 2008, Bruno was charged with embezzling union funds, between March 2004 and March 2006, in the same amount. Also, Bruno agreed to pay restitution. The plea follows an investigation by the OLMS Buffalo District Office.
January 7th, 2009	On January 7, 2009, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, Carol Bruno, former Treasurer of AFSCME, Civil Service Employees Association Region 4 (located in Albany, N.Y.), pled guilty to one count of embezzling union funds in the amount of $16,118.57. On October 9, 2008, Bruno was charged with embezzling union funds, between March 2004 and March 2006, in the same amount. Also, Bruno agreed to pay restitution. The plea follows an investigation by the OLMS Buffalo District Office.
October 9th, 2008	On October 9, 2008, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, Carol Bruno, former Treasurer of AFSCME, Civil Service Employees Association Region 4 (located in Albany, N.Y.) was indicted on one count of embezzling union funds in the amount of $16,118.57 between March 2004 and March 2006. The indictment follows an investigation by the OLMS Buffalo District Office.
May 25th, 2007	On May 25, 2007, in Superior Court for the District of Columbia, Quentin Womack, former Secretary-Treasurer of Service Employees International Union, Conference of Firemen and Oilers Local 1050, pled guilty to one count of second degree theft and was subsequently sentenced to 120 days suspended sentence, nine months of supervised probation and ordered to make restitution. On March 28, 2007, Womack was charged with one count of First Degree Theft for embezzling $3,326.80 from the union. The plea and sentencing follow an investigation by the OLMS Washington District Office.
May 14th, 2007	On May 14, 2007, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, Janet Humphries, former President of SEIU Local 99, was sentenced to 5 years probation and ordered to perform 1,000 hours of community service. Additionally, Humphries was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $5,149, and to pay a special assessment of $500. On November 13, 2006, Humphries pled guilty to one count of conspiracy and three counts of embezzlement for conspiring to finance Martin Ludlow's campaign for Los Angeles City Council with Local 99 funds, and for using union funds to pay for a trip to the Virgin Islands for her daughters and a family friend. The conviction follows a joint investigation by the OLMS Los Angeles District Office, the Department of Labor's Office of the Inspector General, and the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission.
February 8th, 2007	On February 8, 2007, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Debra M. Timko and Danny L. Iverson, former Presidents of Service Employees, Local 150, were charged in a 33-count superseding indictment with mail and wire fraud, embezzlement, and failure to maintain union records as part of a scheme to defraud the union of over $90,000. The indictment supersedes a March 21, 2006 indictment. Timko and Iverson allegedly schemed to defraud the union by receiving duplicate payments for expenses, receiving reimbursement for charges to a union credit card, and receiving reimbursement for meal expenses incurred on days in which they claimed and received a full day of per diem. The indictment follows an investigation by the OLMS Milwaukee District Office.
December 14th, 2006	On December 14, 2006, in the Superior Court of California-County of Los Angeles, Janett Humphries, former President of SEIU Local 99, was sentenced to six months in jail, followed by six months of electronic monitoring, and ordered to make restitution in the amount of over $36,000 on state charges for making illegal contributions to former Secretary-Treasurer Martin Ludlow's campaign for Los Angeles City Council. On November 13, 2006, Humphries pled guilty to one count of conspiracy and three counts of embezzling union funds. Humphries is set to be sentenced under federal guidelines on February 18, 2007. The sentencing follows a joint investigation by the OLMS Los Angeles Office, the Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General, and local law enforcement.
November 13th, 2006	On November 13, 2006, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, Janett Humphries, former President of SEIU Local 99, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy and three counts of embezzlement for conspiring to finance Martin Ludlow's campaign for Los Angeles City Council with Local 99 funds, and for using union funds to pay for a trip to the Virgin Islands for her daughters and a family friend. Humphries also pled guilty to an additional count of embezzlement from a superseding indictment for using union funds to pay cell phone charges for a personal friend. As part of the plea agreement, Humphries waived all appeal rights and will be subject to the Section 504 bar. The guilty plea follows an investigation by the OLMS Los Angeles District Office.
June 5th, 2006	On June 5, 2006, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, Martin Ludlow, former Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, was sentenced to five years probation, 2000 hours of community service, and was ordered to make restitution of $36,400 to SEIU Local 99. On March 28, 2006, Ludlow pled guilty to conspiring to use funds embezzled from SEIU Local 99 for his 2003 campaign for Los Angeles City Councilman. Ludlow admitted to using union money to pay six people who were put on the union payroll but who actually worked on his campaign. Ludlow also used union funds for a cell phone used in the campaign. The sentence follows a joint investigation conducted by the OLMS Los Angeles District Office, the Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General, and local law enforcement.
April 4th, 2006	On April 4, 2006, in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, Darnell Smith, former bookkeeper for Service Employees (SEIU) Local 36, plead guilty to theft by deception for embezzling approximately $70,420.00 in union funds. The guilty plea follows an investigation by the OLMS Philadelphia District Office.
March 28th, 2006	On March 28, 2006, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, Martin Ludlow, former Secretary-Treasurer for the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy for his role in using funds embezzled from SEIU Local 99 by its former president, Janett Humphries, for his 2003 campaign for Los Angeles City Councilman. The guilty plea follows an investigation by the OLMS Los Angeles District Office, the Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General, and state and local law enforcement officials.
March 3rd, 2006	On March 3, 2006, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, Janett Humphries, former President of SEIU Local 99, was indicted on one count of conspiracy and twelve counts of embezzling union funds. Humphries provided misappropriated funds and union "ghost employees" as workers for co-conspirator Martin Ludlow's campaign for Los Angeles City Councilman. Humphries was also charged with five counts of embezzling union funds for other unauthorized expenses not related to the Ludlow campaign. The charges follow an investigation by the OLMS Los Angeles District Office and the Department of Labor's Office of the Inspector General.
March 2nd, 2006	On March 2, 2006, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, Martin Ludlow, former Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, entered into a plea agreement for one count of conspiracy and one count of embezzling union funds for using money misappropriated from SEIU Local 99 by its President, Janett Humphries, during his campaign for Los Angeles City Councilman. The guilty plea follows an investigation by the OLMS Los Angeles District Office and the Department of Labor's Office of the Inspector General.
May 13th, 2003	On May 13, 2003, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Adela Tongson, former employee of Service Employees Local 250, was indicted on two counts of embezzling a total of $100,000 in union funds. The charges were brought following a joint investigation by the OLMS San Francisco District Office and the FBI. [Related documents: HTML | PDF]
November 25th, 2002	On November 25, 2002, in the United States District Court for Puerto Rico, Abdiel Navarro, former administrator, Union General de Trabajadores, Local 1199, SEIU, was sentenced to six months home confinement with electronic monitoring followed by two years probation. Navarro was ordered to make restitution of $33,851.58 and pay a fine of $800. Navarro pled guilty to embezzling union funds following an investigation by the OLMS Atlanta District Office.
July 11th, 2001	On July 11, 2001, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, Nancy Groome, former secretary-treasurer of the Civil Service Employees Association, Local316 of the State, County, and Municipal Employees, pled guilty to one count of embezzling $111,476.48 in union funds. The charges were brought following an investigation by the OLMS Buffalo District Office.

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