Disgraced former UAW President Gary Jones is looking to reduce his 28-month prison sentence for embezzlement after cooperating with prosecutors on the conviction of his predecessor, Dennis Williams. Jones has received a temporary reprieve from his sentence, although his luck may run out next month. In the meantime, a federal judge gave access to related secret government files to a watchdog, so more may come of this story in the future given that this vast embezzlement scandal (involving money meant to train workers) has churned out 15 convictions over the past several years.
That’s not all. UAW took in $1.1 million for the sale of Williams’ Michigan lakefront house with the proceeds being earmarked for the union’s general fund. Current UAW President Ray Curry vowed that “”[t]his sale rights a wrong from the past.” Curry further promised to “”ensure that the abuses of the past can never happen again.””
In other news involving the same bribery scandal, automobile manufacturer FCA US LLC has been sentenced for a conspiracy conviction (in violation of the Labor Management Relations Act) for making at least $3.5 million in illegal payments (including lavish gifts) to UAW Officials. As such, FCA must pay a $30 million fine with this corruption case being labeled as possibly unmatched in severity, historically speaking, although employees of FCA will not receive restitution after a federal judge ruled that they didn’t suffer direct harm.
