UNION, NJ – The former secretary-treasurer of Local 2254 of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Union (AFSCME) today admitted embezzling $40,455 from the union’s checking and savings accounts, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael Honig announced.
Linda Rogers, 71, of Jersey City, pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler to Count One of an indictment charging her with embezzlement from the union, located at Jersey City Medical Center (JCMC).
According to the Indictment and the plea allocution:
Rogers was employed at JCMC and held a part-time position at Local 2254 as its secretary-treasurer. In that role, she had sole control over the union’s checking and savings accounts. From July 2016 through August 2017, her daughter, Jennifer Rogers, who also recently pleaded guilty to the same charges, deposited 112 unauthorized checks from Local 2254 to their joint checking and savings accounts, totaling $35,267. From October 2016 through December 2016, Linda Rogers made six wire transfers from Local 2254’s savings account, totaling $5,188, into her personal credit card account. None of the expenditures were authorized, or for legitimate union purposes.
The count to which Linda Rogers pleaded guilty carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for May 25, 2021.
Acting U.S. Attorney Honig credited investigators of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards, under the direction of Adriana Vamvakas, Regional Director; and special agents of the Department of Labor (OIG), New York Region, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael Mikulka, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.
The government is represented by Senior Litigation Counsel V. Grady O’Malley of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Organized Crime/Gangs Unit.