Brian Burrows, Union Embezzlement, Pennsylvania 2024

PHILADELPHIA – Brian Burrows, 64, of Mount Laurel, NJ, is headed to federal prison after being sentenced today to 48 months’ imprisonment for systematically looting the funds of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 98. U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl also slapped Burrows with three years of supervised release, a $1,800 special assessment, and ordered him to forfeit $135,689.11, with restitution to be determined at a later date. The case shines a harsh light on corruption within organized labor and the abuse of power by those entrusted to represent hardworking members.

Burrows, who held the presidency of Local 98 since 2008, was indicted in January 2019 alongside his right-hand man, Business Manager John Dougherty, and other union officials. The federal grand jury alleged a conspiracy to embezzle approximately $600,000 from Local 98 between April 2010 and August 2016. The indictment detailed how the group didn’t just steal the money, but actively concealed the theft by filing false labor management reports (LM-2s) with the U.S. Department of Labor and submitting fraudulent federal income tax returns, failing to report the stolen funds.

The jury delivered a guilty verdict in December 2023, finding both Dougherty and Burrows guilty of conspiracy to embezzle. Burrows faced a barrage of additional convictions: 13 counts of embezzlement, two counts each of filing false LM-2 reports and falsifying Local 98’s books and records for 2015 and 2016, and three counts of filing false federal income tax returns. The scheme involved the brazen misuse of roughly $391,000 in union funds, diverted to lavish improvements and repairs on Burrows’ own home, the residences of Dougherty and Michael Neill, commercial properties owned by the conspirators, and even the homes of Dougherty’s relatives. It was a classic case of enriching themselves at the expense of the rank-and-file members.

Dougherty, facing a staggering 33 counts of embezzlement, 24 counts of wire fraud, and the same charges related to false reporting and tax evasion as Burrows, is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11. Other Local 98 officers and employees involved in the scheme – Michael Neill, former Director of the Apprentice Training Fund; Marita Crawford, former Political Director; Niko Rodriguez, an Apprentice Training Fund employee; and Brian Fiocca, a Local 98 employee – pleaded guilty in 2022 and received sentences earlier this year, suggesting a widespread culture of corruption within the union.

“The members of a union should be able to trust their leadership,” stated U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero. “They have every right to expect that their officers will act in their best interests and that their dues will be used for their benefit. That wasn’t the case at Local 98, where Brian Burrows violated his duty to his members for his own benefit and allowed his codefendants to do the same. Burrows stole from the hardworking electricians whose dues paid his salary, took deliberate steps to conceal it, and is now being held appropriately accountable.”

Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division, added, “In serving himself over the members of Local 98, Brian Burrows abused his position as the president of the Union and breached the trust of those whom he was elected to serve. Today’s sentence makes it clear that this kind of self-dealing at the expense of others will not be tolerated.” The investigation serves as a stark reminder that even those in positions of power are not above the law, and that federal authorities will continue to pursue and prosecute instances of union corruption.

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