Posts tagged wire fraud
Trump commutes sentence of convicted union leader John ‘Johnny Doc’ Dougherty, lawyer says
September 4, 2026 // Dougherty was convicted in 2023 of bribing a City Council member and embezzling nearly $600,000 from Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Known as “Johnny Doc,” Dougherty ran the union for nearly three decades and was a Democratic power broker in Pennsylvania politics, steering tens of millions of dollars in union campaign contributions to candidates
Former Immigration Services Officer Charged With Defrauding Union
August 21, 2026 // A former Immigration Services Officer was charged and has agreed to plead guilty to stealing more than $60,000 from a labor union over the course of five years. Carol A. Aguja, 55, of Reading, Mass., was charged with wire fraud. A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled by the Court. According to court documents, Aguja was an Immigration Services Officer employed by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Between approximately 2015 and August 2024, Aguja also served as Treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 38 (AFGE Local 38), a labor organization that represented USCIS employees who lived in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire.
The Name Game: How Connecticut Teachers Union (AFT) Keeps Dues Spending in the Dark
June 29, 2026 // That reality helps explain why Congress passed the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA), Public Law 86-257. Enacted by a bipartisan Congress in the wake of well-publicized union corruption scandals, the law was designed to protect rank-and-file workers by requiring financial transparency and accountability from labor organizations. Its centerpiece was the Form LM-2, a detailed annual financial report that larger unions must file with the U.S. Department of Labor, disclosing assets, liabilities, salaries, receipts, expenditures, loans, political spending, and significant disbursements. Filing false information carries criminal penalties under federal law. The promise was straightforward: union members should always be able to see how their dues are spent.
NC couple, execs stole $20M from union for ritzy trips, meals & salaries, jury finds
June 10, 2026 // Nearly $2 million more in salaries and benefits were paid to others for jobs that did not require them to work, including $1.8 million paid to Kateryna Jones, documents show. She got some of the money while she was dating Newton Jones and still living in Ukraine, they said. The Chapel Hill couple also enjoyed date night meals that totaled over $160,000 and charged shopping trips and other personal expenses to the union, prosecutors said. Over $5 million was spent on “unnecessary and lavish international travel,” including executive meetings held “for no apparent purpose in extravagant hotels” in Paris, Rome and other cities.
Jury deliberations underway in KCK in Boilermakers monthlong racketeering trial
June 3, 2026 // The defendants are charged with using union funds for salaries and benefits for no-show jobs, luxury international travel, fine dining, vacation payouts and unauthorized loans. On trial are former International President Newton Jones, 72, and his wife, Kateryna, 33, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina; former International Secretary-Treasurer William Creeden, 78, of Kearney, Missouri; and former International Vice President Lawrence McManamon, 78, of Rocky River, Ohio. The four defendants are among seven former union members indicted in August 2024 for conspiracy to commit offenses under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, as well as embezzlement, health care fraud, wire fraud and other felonies.
Boilermakers trial: Union leaders used $20M as ‘personal piggy banks,’ gov’t says
May 8, 2026 // “No foreign destination was beyond their reach,” she said. “Newton Jones hired family member after family member. His brother, sister, son, daughter and his wife, Kateryna Jones.” He also enriched himself by firing the CEO of a union-affiliated bank and putting himself in charge, Alhambra said, earning hundreds of thousands a year in that position. “All of it was illegal,” Alhambra told jurors. “And where did that money come from? It came straight from the pockets of Boilermakers members.”
Racketeering trial starts for former KC-based union leaders accused of $20M theft
May 4, 2026 // “What makes this trial so significant is that it is not only about the individuals who were indicted,” he said. “It is also about the system and the culture that allowed this to ever happen. “Newton Jones and what federal prosecutors have described as the ‘Jones Enterprise’ would not have been able to allegedly racketeer, embezzle, or misuse union resources if the people sworn to uphold their constitutional duties had taken that oath seriously.” The Boilermakers deserve better, Sulivan said. “This trial should be a turning point, not just for accountability for the past, but for rebuilding and restructuring our organization for the future,” he said.
AFGE President Demetrius Baldwin Hears Criminal Sentencing
April 1, 2026 // On February 26, 2026, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Demetrius Baldwin, former President of American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 2053 (located in Gulfport, Miss.), was sentenced to five years of probation. Baldwin was also ordered to pay $46,729 in restitution, a $27,000 fine, and a $100 special assessment. On September 3, 2025, Baldwin pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1343. The sentencing follows an investigation by the OLMS Dallas-New Orleans District Office.
Two ex-Boilermakers plead guilty in $20M racketeering case involving KC-based union
March 17, 2026 // Two former members of the Kansas City-based International Brotherhood of Boilermakers set to go to trial in May pleaded guilty Monday to racketeering conspiracy and embezzlement from a labor organization in an alleged $20 million scheme involving union funds. Warren Fairley — who took over for a short stint as president of the union in 2023 after its leaders ousted longtime leader Newton Jones — and Jones’ son, Cullen Jones, entered their guilty pleas in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kansas.
IBEW’s James Scotti Sentenced After Guilty Pleas
March 2, 2026 // James Scotti, an employee of Professional Sports Publications, which is a company that conducted business with International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 26 (located in Lanham, Md.), was sentenced to three years of probation with six months of home confinement. He was also ordered to pay $162,960 in restitution. On November 4, 2025, Scotti pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1343 and 1349. The sentencing follows an investigation by the OLMS Washington District Office and the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General.