New jersey labor union officer sentenced to halfway house,
home confinement, for embezzlement of union funds
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
March 6, 2012 |
NEWARK, N.J. – The former secretary treasurer of a New Jersey transportation workers' union was sentenced to four months in a halfway house today for stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the union's accounts for his personal use, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Kevin McKnight, 44, of Jersey City, N.J., previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Claire C. Cecchi to an Information charging him with one count of embezzlement of union funds. Judge Cecchi imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From January 2009 through June 2010, McKnight was the secretary treasurer of Local 1390 of the United Transportation Workers union. Local 1390, headquartered in Laurence Harbor, N.J., represented road and yard workers employed by Norfolk Southern and Conrail. In his official capacity, McKnight was responsible for maintaining all of the local’s financial books and records, which included the depositing of receipts and the disbursement of funds. Under federal law, McKnight occupied a position of trust in relation to Local 1390 and its members as a group. McKnight wrote checks directly to himself, to cash and to third parties from Local 1390’s Wachovia operating account. He also withdrew cash from the union’s account using a bank-issued debit card. McKnight admitted that the approximately $68,000 he stole was all for his personal use.
In addition to the four months in a halfway house, Judge Cecchi sentenced McKnight to four months of home confinement, three years supervised release, and ordered him to pay $54,000 in restitution.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited investigators of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards, under the direction of Acting District Director Andriana Vamvakas for the New York District Office.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney V. Grady O’Malley, Senior Litigation Counsel of the Organized Crime/Gangs Unit in Newark.
12-081
Defense counsel: Jean D. Barrett Esq., Montclair, N.J.
