Former New York transit union president John Earvin was sentenced Tuesday for abusing his power by defrauding $28,012 in membership due payments.
U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer delivered a sentence of three years of probation, including six months of home confinement. Earvin will also be required to pay $2,000 worth of restitution monthly, ostensibly until he repays what he defrauded.
Earvin served as president of the United Federation of Law Enforcement Officers (UFLEO) between 2007 and 2010. He was charged with diverting union dues payments into a private bank account. Earvin made hundreds of unauthorized cash withdrawals for personal use including off-track betting facilities. He pleaded guilty June 19.
The defrauded funds represented a significant percentage of membership dues payments. He was indicted Mar. 31.
“When he was president, there were only a couple dozen members,” a union official told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “There were roughly 22 or 23 total.”
Now the union has several hundred members. Union officials first noticed Earvin’s illegal activities when he was replaced as president in 2010. At the time the new leadership noticed something was amiss. They flagged down federal investigators to look into the matter.
“At the time, there were only two union officials,” the official continued. “It wasn’t until the union started growing and a new president came in that it was revealed.”
The union represents special inspectors employed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York (MTA). To cover up the scheme, Earvin lied to his members on numerous occasions. He claimed he could not provide information about union funds because of an independent audit.
The investigation was conducted by the Office of Labor Management Standards. The agency is a division of the Department of Labor.
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