Center for Union Facts logo

Union Facts

United Auto Workers

Indictments

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.

DateDescription
December 1st, 2021On December 1, 2021, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Timothy Edmunds, former Financial Secretary of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 412 (located in Warren, Mich.), was indicted with one count of embezzlement of union funds in the amount of $2,000,000, one count of bank fraud, and one count of money laundering, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 501(c), 18 U.S.C. 1344(2), and 18 U.S.C. 1957, respectively. The charges follow an investigation by the OLMS Detroit-Milwaukee District Office, the Department of Labors Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Internal Revenue Service.
January 12th, 2021On January 12, 2021, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan, Brian Rittenhouse, former Financial Secretary of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 1320 (located in Grandville, Mich.), was indicted with one count of embezzlement and one count of false entry in a record required to be kept by a labor organization, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 501(c) and 29 U.S.C. 439(c), respectively. The charges follow an investigation by the OLMS Detroit-Milwaukee District Office.
March 14th, 2018On March 14, 2018, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Nancy Adams Johnson, a former senior official in the UAW Chrysler Department of the United Auto Workers (UAW) (located in Detroit, Mich.) was charged in an indictment with one count of conspiracy to violate the Labor Management Relations Act, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 371, and four counts of receiving and accepting prohibited money and things of value from a union employer, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 186, stemming from her receipt of over $38,847 in prohibited payments and things of value from Alphons Iacobelli, former Vice President of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles US LLC (FCA), and others acting in the interest of FCA. The prohibited payments and things of value, which occurred or were received between 2010 and 2015, included personal travel, golf resort fees, lavish meals, limousine services, designer clothing, jewelry, designer shoes, golf equipment, electronics, and a shotgun for the personal benefit of Johnson and other UAW officials. The payments were made using the bank account and credit card account of the UAW-Chrysler National Training Center (NTC), which was established to provide for the education, training, and retraining of Chrysler workers. The charge follows an investigation by the OLMS Detroit-Milwaukee District Office, the Department of LaborÄôs Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Internal Revenue Service.
March 7th, 2018On March 7, 2018, in the City of Chicago, IL, Cook County Court, Milton Thomas, former Shop Chairman of Auto Workers Local 890 (located in Morton Grove, Ill.), was indicted on one count of Theft, Class 2 of between $10,000 to $100,000 in violation of Illinois Compiled Statutes 720 ILCS 5/16-1(a)(2) and Forgery 720 ILCS 5.0/17-3(a)(2) for making unauthorized checks payable to himself for lost wages and for forging union disbursement vouchers. The indictment follows an investigation by the OLMS Chicago District Office.
December 5th, 2017On December 5, 2017, in the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, Anthony Edmunds, former President of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2419 (located in Danville, Ill.), was indicted on one count of embezzling $19,482 in union funds, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 501(c). The charge follows an investigation by the OLMS Chicago District Office.
August 17th, 2016On August 17, 2016, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Michael R. Bennett, former President of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2317 (located in Lafayette, Ind.), was charged in a six-count indictment with three counts of wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1343, and three counts of embezzling union funds totaling approximately $4,500, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 501(c). The charges follow an investigation by the OLMS Chicago District Office.
March 22nd, 2016On March 22, 2016, in the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, Bob Buford, former President of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2419 (located in Danville, Ill.), was indicted on one count of mail fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1341, for concealing his embezzlement of approximately $28,697 from the unionÕs savings account during 2010. In addition, Buford was indicted on one count of filing a false report, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 439(b), with respect to the filing of the unionÕs LM-3 report for fiscal year ending December 31, 2010. The charges follow an investigation by the OLMS Chicago District Office.
March 22nd, 2016On March 22, 2016, in the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, Bob Buford, former President of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2419 (located in Danville, Ill.), was indicted on one count of mail fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1341, for concealing his embezzlement of approximately $28,697 from the unionÄôs savings account during 2010. In addition, Buford was indicted on one count of filing a false report, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 439(b), with respect to the filing of the unionÄôs LM-3 report for fiscal year ending December 31, 2010. The charges follow an investigation by the OLMS Chicago District Office.
March 4th, 2015On March 4, 2015, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Shreveport Division, Gregory J. Hill, Jr., former Vice President of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2297 (formerly located in Shreveport, La.), was charged in a nine-count indictment. Hill was charged with one count of aiding and abetting an embezzlement of over $12,000 in union funds, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 501(c) and 18 U.S.C. 2; one count of conspiracy to forge securities and embezzle money from a labor organization, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 371; and seven counts of uttering forged checks, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 513(a). The indictment follows an investigation by the OLMS Dallas-New Orleans District Office.
March 4th, 2015On March 4, 2015, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana Shreveport Division, Danny L. Rawls, former member of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2297 (formerly located in Shreveport, La.), was charged in a nine-count indictment. Rawls was charged with one count of aiding and abetting an embezzlement of over $12,000 in union funds, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 501(c) and 18 U.S.C. 2; three counts of uttering forged checks in violation of 18 U.S.C. 513(a); and one count of conspiracy to forge securities and embezzle money from a labor organization, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 371. The indictment follows an investigation by the OLMS Dallas-New Orleans District Office.
November 21st, 2013On November 21, 2013, in the Harrison County Court in Harrison County, Texas, Jerry Ragster, former President of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 3057 (located in Marshall, Tex.), was indicted for theft of $3,372 in union funds, in violation of Texas Penal Code 31.03. The indictment follows an investigation by the OLMS Dallas-New Orleans District Office.
November 21st, 2012On November 21, 2012, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Western Division, Patricia Race, former President of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 959 (located in Fremont, Ohio), was charged in a one-count indictment with knowingly failing to disclose a material fact in the union’s annual financial report Form LM-3, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 439(b). The charge follows an investigation by the OLMS Cleveland District Office.
December 18th, 2007On December 18, 2007, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, James Ireland, former Financial Secretary for the United Auto Workers Local 1672, was indicted on one count of embezzling union funds in the amount of $3,662. The indictment follows an investigation by the OLMS St. Louis District Office.
December 22nd, 2005On December 22, 2005, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Linda Hoselton, former Recording Secretary for United Auto Workers Local 282, was indicted on one count of embezzling union funds totaling $1,444.50. The indictment follows an investigation by the OLMS St. Louis District Office.
January 20th, 2005On January 20, 2005, in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, Gary Miller, former president of Local 2372, United Auto Workers, pled guilty to the embezzlement of union funds in excess of $5,000. Miller was indicted on October 12, 2004, following an investigation by the OLMS Philadelphia District Office.
September 1st, 2004On September 1, 2004, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Michael G. Kmit, former secretary-treasurer of Auto Workers Local 2562, entered a plea change to guilty to the charge of embezzlement. Kmit was indicted on June 23, 2004, on one count of embezzling $10,953.10 in union funds. The guilty plea follows an investigation by the OLMS Cleveland District Office.
May 26th, 2004On May 26, 2004, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Sandra Linder, former financial secretary for Auto Workers Local 1317, was indicted on one count of embezzling more than $10,000 in union funds. The indictment follows an investigation by the OLMS Chicago District Office.
April 21st, 2004On April 21, 2004, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Jose Delgadillo, former financial secretary-treasurer of Auto Workers Local 1066, pled guilty to a one-count superceding information charging him with stealing $12,585 in union funds. Delgadillo was previously indicted on January 29, 2004, on one count of stealing and one count of making false entries. The charges follow an investigation by the OLMS Chicago District Office.
January 29th, 2004On January 29, 2004, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Jose Delgadillo, former financial secretary-treasurer of Auto Workers LU 1066, was indicted on one count of embezzling $12,185 in union funds and one count of making a false entry. Delgadillo allegedly forged the signature of another officer on a union check and converted the proceeds. The indictment follows an investigation by the OLMS Chicago District Office.
August 5th, 2003On August 5, 2003, in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, David Westgate, former President of United Auto Workers Local 168, was indicted on 68 counts of embezzling $31,867 in union funds. The charges were brought following an investigation by the OLMS Boston District Office.
October 28th, 2002On October 28, 2002, in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, George Wright, Jr., former financial secretary of Auto Workers Local 267, was sentenced to six months house arrest and five years probation. He was ordered to make full restitution in the amount of $19,206. He had been indicted for embezzlement of union funds on October 30, 2001, following an investigation by the OLMS New York District Office.
July 24th, 2002On July 24, 2002, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Martin Mone, former financial secretary of Auto Workers Local 1052, was indicted on charges of embezzling $6,264.97 in union funds and falsifying union records. The charges were brought following an investigation by the OLMS Cleveland District Office.
March 29th, 2002On March 29, 2002, in Cuyahoga County (Ohio) court, Rollie McHugh, former financial secretary of Auto Workers Local 2358, was indicted on one count of theft, two counts of forgery, two counts of uttering, and two counts of tampering with records for embezzling between $500 and $5,000. The charges were brought following an investigation by the OLMS Cleveland District Office.
December 17th, 2001On December 17, 2001, in Wayne County (Indiana) Superior Court, Priscilla Crist, former president of Auto Workers Local 2374, was indicted for forgery and theft of $4,092. The charges were brought following an investigation by the OLMS Cincinnati District Office.
October 5th, 2001On October 5, 2001, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, Terrance P. Baldridge, former secretary-treasurer of United Auto Workers Local 1349, was charged in a one-count indictment with embezzling $1,150 in union funds. The charges were brought following an investigation by the OLMS St. Louis District Office.