An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor has led to criminal charges for two former union officials who allegedly embezzled approximately $350,000 from the union members they swore to serve.
An investigation by the department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards in Cleveland found that the former president and secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Local 1746 conspired to access the union’s finances for unauthorized transactions for their personal benefit from 2017 to 2022.
Criminal charges were filed this month in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio against the union’s former President Pamela Brown and former Secretary-Treasurer Adelle Burrell-Williams. The charging documents allege these former officers used the union’s debit card to withdraw cash at casinos and wrote unauthorized checks from the union’s operating account. The department also alleges that Brown and Burrell-Williams attempted to avoid detection by creating false reports and failing to maintain financial records. The union lost approximately $350,000 as a result of Brown and Burrell-Williams’ actions.
The former union officials were responsible for overseeing the union, managing its finances, paying authorized expenses, maintaining financial records, and creating financial reports during their tenures as principal officers of Local 1746, a union representing 1,200 employees at Cuyahoga County Health and Human Services.
The prosecution of this case is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio.
Criminal complaints, or the filing of an information, are charges only and are not evidence of guilt. Each defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it is the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Labor union fraud such as embezzlement, filing false reports, maintaining false records, destroying or concealing records, and other criminal activity can be reported by email to [email protected], to the OLMS National Office at 202-693-0143, or to your local OLMS field office. Find your local OLMS office .