Former Treasurer Ordered to Pay $58,150 in Restitution after Admitting to Swindling Federal Union Members in the Twin Cities

ST. PAUL, MN – The State of Minnesota’s 2nd Judicial District Court in Ramsey County has sentenced Latasha Lee Rosetta Wilson - former treasurer of American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 1969 - to 20 years of probation and 100 hours of community service after she pleaded guilty to making $58,150 in unauthorized cash withdrawals from the union.

The court ordered Wilson to make full restitution to the local union that represents U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs employees in the Twin Cities area, and fined her.

The May 21, 2018, sentencing follows Wilson’s March 16, 2018, guilty plea to one count of theft by swindle after she admitted to making unauthorized cash withdrawals between Jan. 8, 2013, and Dec. 12, 2015. Investigators in the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) and the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs confirmed that Wilson stole at least $58,150.

“The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards places a high priority on combatting financial malfeasance and safeguarding financial integrity in labor unions,” said OLMS Detroit-Milwaukee District Director Ian Burg. “Wilson’s conviction leaves no question as to the agency’s commitment to seek justice when anyone puts personal financial gain ahead of the best interests of union members.”

Wilson attempted to hide the theft from union officials by recording that the ill-gotten checks were for “organizing” in an effort to disguise the fact that she used the money for personal benefit. In some instances, she would alter the union’s bank statements, masking the cash withdrawals on the statements that she recopied to distribute to the union’s executive board.

Special Agent in Charge Gregg Hirstein of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs’ Office of the Inspector General added, “Just as we do with our veterans’ healthcare providers, we will hold Veterans Affairs’ employees in positions of fiscal trust to the highest standards of accountability.”  

OLMS agents and the Veterans Affairs Office of the Inspector General investigated the case.

Additional information can be found at https://www.dol.gov/olms.