Washington, D.C. - United States Attorney Roscoe C. Howard, Jr., Van A. Harp, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Washington Field Office, Michael Cahir, District Director, Department of Labor (DOL), Office of Labor-Management Standards, and Gregory Szczeszek, Special Agent in Charge, IRS, Criminal Investigations, announced that Michael W. Martin, age 43, of Bowie, Maryland, pled guilty today before United States District Judge Richard J. Leon to conspiracy to launder proceeds of crime in connection with his role in stealing over $500,000 in Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) funds. Martin has agreed to cooperate in the government's ongoing investigation in which additional charges are possible. Martin faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. Martin will next appear in court for a status hearing on June 17, 2003.

WTU is the collective bargaining unit for teachers employed by and retired from the District of Columbia Public Schools. Martin, a former employee of the District of Columbia Department of Health, Office of HIV/AIDS Administration, and sometimes the hairdresser for WTU's president, is also the son-in-law of WTU's Executive Assistant. As part of his plea agreement with the government, Martin admitted that WTU's President and Executive Assistant asked him to create a fictitious company so that they could write checks to him through the company and, in turn, receive the money back in cash or deposits to WTU President's bank account. Martin and a "business" partner opened an account at Bank of America in the name of Expressions Unlimited, a company that was not in fact registered to do business.

Expressions Unlimited performed no services for the WTU. Nevertheless, WTU checks exceeding $480,000, prepared by WTU Executive Assistant, and signed by WTU President and WTU Treasurer, were paid to Expressions Unlimited and deposited or cashed at Bank of America. In turn, Martin, his wife, and his "business" partner, who was the only lawful signatory on the Expressions Unlimited account, would withdraw funds from the account and pay them to WTU President or Executive Assistant. WTU also paid Martin more than $20,000 for services such as "image consulting" for WTU President, which included doing WTU President's hair, giving WTU President fashion advice, and shopping for WTU President. In addition, WTU credit cards were used to purchase goods and services for Martin, including catering for parties at his home and a Caribbean vacation.

At times, the WTU funds deposited into the Expressions Unlimited account were used by WTU President to pay the WTU's credit card bills, on which WTU President, Executive Assistant, and Treasurer had charged well over $1 million in personal and unauthorized expenses. The laundering of funds through the Expressions Unlimited account was specifically designed to make it appear that WTU President was personally reimbursing the union for these unauthorized charges. In addition, Martin made personal use of a substantial amount of the WTU funds in the Expressions Unlimited account, using the money for a variety of purposes, including his mortgage payment, private school tuition for his children, credit card bills, car payments, and vehicle repairs.

In announcing today's guilty plea, U.S. Attorney Howard, Assistant Director in Charge Harp, District Director Cahir, and Special Agent in Charge Szczeszek commended the investigative work of FBI Special Agents Katherine L. Andrews and Julie S. Lenkart, DOL Senior Investigator Mark Wheeler and Investigator Frank Gore, and IRS Special Agent Anthony Brooks, as well as numerous other federal and local law enforcement agents who have assisted in this ongoing investigation. In addition, they commended U.S. Attorney's Office Auditor Nick Novak and Legal Assistant Felicia Price, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorneys James W. Cooper and Anthony M. Alexis, the prosecutors handling the case.