Former Union Officer Pleads Guilty to Stealing $12,000

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a former secretary–treasurer of Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Lodge 800 pleaded guilty in federal court today to embezzling more than $12,000, which nearly depleted the lodge’s bank account.

Jeremy Bolte, 40, of Kansas City, Mo., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner to 10 counts of embezzlement by a union officer.

Members of Lodge 800 are employees of BNSF Railway in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Bolte was appointed as secretary-treasurer of Lodge 800 on March 15, 2011, and remained in the post until he was removed from office on April 18, 2013. During the time he was a union officer, Bolte was the only person with a checkbook for Lodge 800’s checking account and only his signature was required on checks. Bolte also had a credit card for Lodge 800’s credit card account.

Between Jan. 19 and Sept. 7, 2012, Bolte wrote 18 unauthorized checks from Lodge 800’s bank account. Bolte admitted that he wrote 16 of those unauthorized checks to himself, which he endorsed and cashed to pay his personal bills. Bolte spent this money on personal lawyers’ fees related to a DUI arrest and a child support action by his ex-wife, car payments, rent payments and other personal expenses.

Between Dec. 27, 2011, and May 17, 2012, Bolte made seven unauthorized charges on Lodge 800’s credit card for personal expenses at Walmart, QuikTrip and Gas Depot. Bolte used the credit card at locations near his residence in Clay County, Mo., or where his children resided with his ex-wife near Topeka, Kan. In total, Bolte charged $491 in unauthorized expenses to Lodge 800’s credit card.

As a result of Bolte’s actions, Lodge 800 lost $12,009 and was left with only $33 in its checking account. Lodge 800 was also left with an unpaid credit card balance of $401.

Under federal statutes, Bolte is subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole on each of the 10 counts, plus a fine up to $10,000 and an order of restitution. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jane Pansing Brown. It was investigated by the Office of Labor-Management Standards.