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    Thom Mrozek
    Public Affairs Officer

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    thom.mrozek@usdoj.gov

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    Release No. 10-126

    August 30, 2010

    FORMER LABOR UNION OFFICIAL SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR STEALING UNION FUNDS AND FILING FALSE TAX RETURN

    RIVERSIDE, California – A Barstow man who formerly served as the financial secretary and the treasurer of an electrical workers union was sentenced today to one year in federal prison for his theft of more than $90,000 in union funds.

    Jimmie Leo Miles, 70, who used to work for the AFL-CIO International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Union, Local 1023, was sentenced this morning by United States District Judge Virginia A. Phillips.

    During the sentencing hearing, Judge Phillips said Miles stole the union funds for nothing “other than a desire for money” and that his actions “besmirched the union.”

    In addition to the prison term, Judge Phillips ordered Miles to pay a total of $107,749.90 in restitution. Miles was ordered to pay $93,283 to repay the union and $14,466 to pay taxes due to the Internal Revenue Service.

    Miles pleaded guilty in June to one count of embezzling union funds and one count of filing a false income tax return that failed to report the embezzled income to the IRS. As part of his guilty pleas, Miles admitted that he embezzled more than $90,000 in union funds from the beginning of 2003 through June 2007. Miles issued and signed more than 350 checks from the union’s bank account without obtaining authorization from the union’s membership or the union’s executive board. Miles wrote checks to himself and used other checks to pay for his personal expenditures, including his mortgage, homeowner’s insurance, AAA membership, automotive repairs, DirecTV, vehicle registrations, mortgage, gas and electric utilities, state and federal income tax,     IBEW Local 1023, which represents approximately 180 members who work for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, is based in Barstow.

    The case against Miles was investigated by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards and IRS - Criminal Investigation. OLMS enforces federal labor laws that impose financial responsibilities on union officers and employees requiring that they properly account for the receipt and disbursement of membership funds.

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    Release No. 10-126

    Return to the 2010 Press Release Index