Spring is here, but it’s only brought sadness for the labor movement. Over the last few weeks, the Department of Labor has noted numerous criminal enforcement actions involving longtime union officials. You can read them here:

• On April 4th, 2018, in the Superior Court of New Jersey (Passaic County), Sharon Williams-Savage, Former President of AFGE Local 2425, (located in East Orange, N.J.) pled guilty to one count of fourth-degree theft by unlawful taking, in violation of NJSA 2C: 20 – 3.
• On March 29th, 2018, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Shreveport Division, Tyler Farrar, former Financial Secretary for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 88C (located in Bastrop, La.), was charged in a one count indictment for embezzling union funds, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 501(c).
• On March 28th, 2018, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Western Division, Ronald Coldren, former Financial Secretary of Steelworkers Local 207 (located in Findlay, Ohio), pled guilty to one count of embezzlement in the amount of $30,639, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 501(c).
• On March 26th, 2018, in the U.S. District Court in Newark, New Jersey, Paul Moe Sr., a former general foreman and member of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), Local 1804-1 (located in North Bergen, N.J.) was sentenced to 24-months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.  Moe was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $749,000.  On October 31, 2017, after a seven-day trial, a jury found Moe guilty on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and 13 substantive counts of wire fraud, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 1343, stemming from his no-show job at the Port of Elizabeth terminal in New Jersey, with an annual salary of $500,000.
• On March 23rd, 2018, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Estes Evans, former treasurer of International Association of EMTs and Paramedics Local R7-33 (located in Milwaukee, Wis.), was sentenced to six months of home confinement and five years of supervised release. Evans was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $44,446.86 and a $100 special assessment. On December 22, 2017, Evans pled guilty to one count of embezzling $44,446.86 in union funds, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 501(c).
• On March 20th, 2018, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, Michael A. Taylor, former General Chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) Division 815 (located in Joliet, Ill.), pled guilty to a one-count information charging him with embezzling $24,868.80 in union funds, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 501(c).