MichMan
MichMan's JournalFeds slap 'racketeering' label on 2 ex-UAW presidents
Source: Detroit News
Detroit — Federal prosecutors for the first time Monday referred to former United Auto Workers presidents Gary Jones and Dennis Williams as members of a racketeering enterprise, a move legal experts say signals the government's interest in pursuing a takeover of one of the nation's largest and most powerful unions.
The label, included in a new criminal filing against former UAW Region 5 Director Vance Pearson, also signals that the government is considering filing federal racketeering charges against people implicated in a scheme that embezzled more than $1.5 million in union funds, according to sources familiar with the investigation. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.
In charging Pearson with embezzlement conspiracy, prosecutors accused the former labor leader of embezzling money and committing other crimes "in aid of a racketeering enterprise." That is the government's first public reference to racketeering — a term often associated with organized crime — during a nearly three-year prosecution of UAW officials involved in corruption.
Prosecutors used the label two months after U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider said government oversight of the UAW is a possible solution to reforming a union plagued by what his team of prosecutors has called a culture of corruption among senior leadership. Prosecutors could seize control by filing a civil racketeering lawsuit, a move that could cost the union tens of millions of dollars, impose prolonged federal oversight and involve replacing labor leaders.
The criminal filing Monday also opens the possibility of pursuing criminal racketeering charges against members of the "racketeering enterprise," sources said. Those members, according to the government, include Pearson and at least six others, including Missouri-based UAW official Edward "Nick" Robinson and five UAW officials who are referred to by pseudonyms in federal court filings.
Read more: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2020/01/06/feds-hit-uaw-official-vance-pearson-new-charge-likely-plea-deal-looms/2822865001/
Curious to hear the thoughts of those on DU that said they were getting out after the 2016 election
Because it was going to plummet immediately. Haven't heard much about it from them for quite awhile.
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