Two Former Ohio Union Officers Charged in $350K Embezzlement Scheme

Federal prosecutors have charged two former officers of an Ohio public-sector union with wire fraud and conspiracy after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found they allegedly siphoned roughly $350,000 in member funds over a five-year period.

The charges, filed this month in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, name Pamela Brown, the former president, and Adelle Burrell-Williams, the former secretary-treasurer, of American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Local 1746, a union representing approximately 1,200 Cuyahoga County Health and Human Services employees.

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According to charging documents, Brown and Burrell-Williams allegedly used the union's debit card to withdraw cash at casinos and wrote unauthorized checks drawn on the union's operating account between 2017 and 2022. Investigators with the department's Office of Labor-Management Standards in Cleveland further allege the pair attempted to conceal their activity by generating false financial reports and failing to preserve proper accounting records.

As principal officers of Local 1746, both individuals were formally responsible for managing union finances, authorizing expenditures, and maintaining accurate records — the very oversight functions prosecutors say they exploited and then obscured. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio is handling the prosecution.

Authorities stressed that criminal complaints represent charges only and are not proof of guilt; each defendant retains the right to a fair trial at which the government must prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. The Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards encouraged anyone with knowledge of union fraud to report it by emailing OLMS-Public@dol.gov or calling 202-693-0143. Continue reading at DOL News Releases and Briefs.