Former Boilermakers executive headed to prison

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A former executive for International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmith, Forgers and Helpers (Boilermakers Union) was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment and two years of supervised release. The sentence also included a ban from employment with a labor union or ERISA fund for 13 years for the defendant’s part in nearly a decade of egregious financial corruption and abuse of union funds.

According to court documents, Tyler Brown, 46, of Kansas City, Missouri, pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy.

The Boilermakers Union is a labor union formerly headquartered in Kansas City, Kansas, with approximately 45,000 members consisting of skilled tradespersons. 

Brown was employed by the Boilermakers Union in a variety of roles, including as Executive Director of Industrial Sector Operations, Special Assistant to the International President, and Chief of Staff. Brown reported directly to International President Newton Jones and carried out Jones' directives including those Brown knew to be illegal and contrary to the union’s constitution. Some of those actions include:

•    Assisting in hiring Jones’ wife, son and other relatives as staff with substantially inflated salaries knowing they did little to no productive work 
•    Preparing letters at Jones’ direction assigning union executives and guests to 100 lavish international trips that served no legitimate union-related purpose. Brown himself took more than 30 of such trips to destinations like Italy, London, Spain, Switzerland, Peru, and Thailand
•    As chief of staff, Brown prepared agenda packages for International Executive Council Docket meetings. Brown omitted expense reports for the International President and International Secretary-Treasurer to impede councilmembers from reviewing the information

Brown, who was a licensed attorney, surrendered his license to practice law in five states. Seven other defendants involved in the conspiracy will be sentenced at a later date. 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Department of Labor investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Faiza Alhambra and Jabari Wamble prosecuted the case.

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