Former union official charged

Staff report

WARREN

Brian R. Wilson, 39, of Warren, has been charged with embezzling $10,500 from American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2804 while serving as the union’s secretary- treasurer.

Local 2804 represents maintenance and service employees at Forum Trumbull Memorial Hospital.

A one-count bill of information, filed by Steven M. Dettelbach, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, alleges that from approximately April 29, 2006, through Nov. 27, 2006, Wilson made seven unauthorized cash withdrawals from the union’s checking account totaling $11,030. He spent approximately $530 for union expenses and kept the rest for unauthorized personal use.

Wilson did not seek approval or inform any other officers or members that he had taken this money, and he also did not disclose the withdrawals in early 2007 when other local union officers requested records and information to conduct an audit of the union’s finances, according to the bill of information.

The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John M. Siegel after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards, Cleveland.