Gary Jones, former president of the United Auto Workers, has pleaded guilty to embezzlement, racketeering and tax evasion as part of a larger scandal that has shaken trust in the union and exposed it to a possible federal takeover, NPR reports. Jones admits he conspired to embezzle more than $1 million from dues paid by union members, the Department of Justice said Wednesday. The corruption started in 2010 when Jones was a high-ranking UAW official. He became president in June 2018 and led the group through the high-profile General Motors strike in 2019.
Jones and other union officials spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in union funds on personal expenses such as golfing, cigars, meals and liquor, and private villas while using fraudulent expense forms to conceal the embezzlement, the Justice Department said. Other union officials cashed fraudulent checks and accepted bribery payments from Fiat Chrysler executives in exchange for negotiating labor contracts more favorable to the auto company. More than a dozen people have been convicted in the scandal, including both Fiat Chrysler executives and former senior UAW officials. U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider in Michigan said the Justice Department’s investigation is moving into a “new phase” and will shift its focus to reforming the UAW in addition to investigating the criminal conduct.