Eastern District of Louisiana | Union Financial Secretary from Franklinton Louisiana Sentenced for Stealing Union Funds
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – BRIAN GERALD, age 51, a resident of Franklinton, Louisiana, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Lance M. Africk to (5) five years of probation and (6) six months of house arrest for stealing money from a local labor union, announced United States Attorney Duane A. Evans. The Court also ordered GERALD to pay restitution in the amount of $112,594.18.
According to court records, GERALD was the Financial Secretary of United Steelworkers Local 13-189. GERALD was responsible for organizing Local 13-189’s financial records, keeping an accounting of its income, and filing IRS forms and reports. GERALD was also responsible for maintaining Local 13-189’s debit card in a safe location. From January 2015 through September 2020, GERALD used the union’s debit card to make 493 ATM cash withdrawals totaling $107,387.90 in cash and fees. GERALD also used the union’s debit card to make payments for his personal accounts for a total of $36,589.41. GERALD misappropriated a total of $143,977.31 of union funds.
U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the U.S. Department of Labor in investigating this matter. Assistant U. S. Attorneys Rachal Cassagne of the Narcotics Unit and Troy Bell of the General Crimes Unit are in charge of the prosecution.
