Madison, Wis. - John W. Vaudreuil, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Shari Birch, 48, Superior, Wis., was convicted of a felony and sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to six months of home confinement and three years of probation for the embezzlement of funds from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 1760-A, in Superior. Birch pleaded guilty to this charge on February 25, 2011.

Local 1760-A represents approximately 30 members employed at St. Francis Home in the Park, a skilled nursing facility, located in Superior. Between May 11, 2007 and October 24, 2008, Birch was the Treasurer of Local 1760-A. In her capacity as Treasurer, Birch was responsible for handling the money of Local 1760-A, including depositing the union dues owed to Local 1760-A by its members into the union bank account. The union dues were withheld from employee’s paychecks by St. Francis Home in the Park and twice a month, the nursing home sent Birch checks for the withheld dues.

Instead of depositing the full amount of the checks into the union bank account, however, Birch embezzled $16,737.54 of the dues money in 2007 and 2008. The embezzlement was initially discovered by another union officer who tried to cash a check drawn on the union’s bank account, and was told there were insufficient funds in the account.

The charges against Birch were the result of an investigation conducted by the
U. S. Department of Labor, Office of Labor Management Standards and the Superior Police Department. The prosecution of the case has been handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter M. Jarosz.

 

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