Former Union Officer Pleads Guilty to Embezzling over $280,000 in Union Funds

Portland, Maine: Acting United States Attorney Richard W. Murphy announced that Ryan Jones, 34, of Bath, Maine pleaded guilty today to embezzling $280,865 from a union during a period when he served as an officer of that union.

According to court records, from 2009 until January 2017, the defendant was the Secretary-Treasurer of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Local Lodge S6, a labor union. The defendant’s tenure ended when he failed to win re-election. In January, the newly elected union officials discovered discrepancies with union finances. The ensuing federal investigation revealed that the defendant made almost 200 unauthorized withdrawals from the union’s bank account, he fabricated monthly bank statements to conceal his withdrawals, he provided the fabricated bank statements to union auditors to deceive them, and he embezzled about $280,865 between May 2012 and November 2016.

The defendant faces up to 5 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $10,000 fine. He will also be ordered to pay full restitution to the union.

The investigation was conducted by the Bath Police Department; the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.