Score:   1
Docket Number:   D-MD  1:18-cr-00349
Case Name:   USA v. Jones
  Press Releases:
Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow today sentenced Annette Elizabeth Jones, age 45, of Port Deposit, Maryland, to 24 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, for bank fraud in connection with a scheme to embezzle funds from the labor union where she worked.  Jones entered her guilty plea on May 7, 2019.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; District Director Mark Wheeler of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Labor - Management Standards; and Special Agent in Charge of the Mid-Atlantic Field Office Kim R. Lampkins for the US Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General.

According to her plea agreement, Jones is the former Treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local Union 331, which represented approximately 760 employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Perry Point, Maryland.

As detailed in her plea agreement, Jones executed two fraud schemes through which she embezzled at least $82,180.73 from the Union.  First, from July 2012 through July 2015, Jones stole at least $80,944.80 in Union funds by forging her colleagues’ signatures on 335 Union checks that she wrote to herself and then cashed or deposited those checks at multiple financial institutions.  Second, from January 2014 through July 2015, Jones used a Union-issued credit card to pay for $1,235.93 in personal expenses using Union funds on 20 separate occasions.

Jones admitted that she took steps to conceal the scheme from the Union.  For example, not only did Jones have exclusive control of the Union’s checkbook, but she also maintained sole custody of a laptop computer that she was issued by the Union to manage its financial records on Union-purchased accounting software.  In that software, Jones frequently recorded false information regarding the business purpose of the fraudulent Union checks she forged and negotiated, or recorded no information at all about the business purpose of such checks.  Jones also provided false information about the Union’s finances to the Executive Board and the Union membership, caused reports to be submitted to the federal government that falsely certified the amount of money she received from the Union, and lied to the Union’s independent auditor.

Jones’ fraud was discovered in July 2015, when the Union’s Vice President overheard a phone call in which Jones attempted to purchase a smartphone for a family member using the credit card she had been issued to pay for Union expenses only.  The Vice President then reported the conversation to the Union’s President.  The President later conducted a search of Jones’s office and found two uncashed Union checks made payable to Jones on which it appeared that the President’s signature had been forged.  The Union President then met with the manager of the bank where the Union’s account was held, and reviewed each of the checks to Jones that had been drawn on the Union’s account during the preceding three months.  The Union President’s signature had been forged on all of them.  When the manager provided the President with copies of the Union’s monthly credit-card account statements, the President also discovered that Jones had made a number of personal charges on her Union-issued card.

Jones was immediately removed from her position as Union Treasurer and resigned from the VA soon thereafter.  Although Jones had agreed to return her Union-issued laptop at the time she was removed as Treasurer, Jones admitted that she never returned it.

As part of her sentence, Jones is required to pay restitution in the full amount of the loss, which the parties agreed is $82,180.73.

United States Attorney Robert K. Hur commended the DOL and VA-OIG for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey J. Izant and Matthew J. Maddox, who prosecuted the federal case.

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Baltimore, Maryland – Annette Elizabeth Jones, age 45, of Port Deposit, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to bank fraud in connection with a scheme to embezzle funds from the labor union where she worked.  Jones entered her guilty plea on May 7, 2019.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; District Director Mark Wheeler of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Labor - Management Standards; and Inspector General Kim R. Lampkins, Special Agent in Charge, Mid Atlantic Field Office, of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

According to her plea agreement, Jones is the former Treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees (“AFGE”) Local Union 331, which represents approximately 760 employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Perry Point, Maryland.

As detailed in her plea agreement, Jones executed two fraud schemes through which she embezzled at least $82,180.73 from the Union.  First, from July 2012 through July 2015, Jones stole at least $80,944.80 in Union funds by forging her colleagues’ signatures on 335 Union checks that she wrote to herself and then cashed or deposited those checks at multiple financial institutions.  Second, from January 2014 through July 2015, Jones used a Union-issued credit card to pay for $1,235.93 in personal expenses using Union funds on 20 separate occasions.

Jones admitted that she took steps to conceal the scheme from the Union.  For example, not only did Jones have exclusive control of the Union’s checkbook, but she also maintained sole custody of a laptop computer that she was issued by the Union to manage its financial records on Union-purchased accounting software.  In that software, Jones frequently recorded false information regarding the business purpose of the fraudulent Union checks she forged and negotiated, or recorded no information at all about the business purpose of such checks.  Jones also provided false information about the Union’s finances to the Executive Board and the Union membership, caused reports to be submitted to the federal government that falsely certified the amount of money she received from the Union, and lied to the Union’s independent auditor.

Jones’ fraud was discovered in July 2015, when the Union’s Vice President overheard a phone call in which Jones attempted to purchase a smartphone for a family member using the credit card she had been issued to pay for Union expenses only.  The Vice President then reported the conversation to the Union’s President.  The President later conducted a search of Jones’s office and found two uncashed Union checks made payable to Jones on which it appeared that the President’s signature had been forged.  The Union President then met with the manager of the bank where the Union’s account was held, and reviewed each of the checks to Jones that had been drawn on the Union’s account during the preceding three months.  The Union President’s signature had been forged on all of them.  When the manager provided the President with copies of the Union’s monthly credit-card account statements, the President also discovered that Jones had made a number of personal charges on her Union-issued card. 

Jones was immediately removed from her position as Union Treasurer and resigned from the VA soon thereafter.  Although Jones had agreed to return her Union-issued laptop at the time she was removed as Treasurer, Jones admitted that she never returned it.

As part of her plea agreement, Jones will be required to pay restitution in the full amount of the loss, which the parties agree is $82,180.73.

Jones and the government have agreed that, if the Court accepts the plea agreement, Jones will be sentenced to two years in federal prison.  U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow has scheduled sentencing for September 10, 2019 at 1:00 p.m. 

United States Attorney Robert K. Hur commended the DOL and VA-OIG for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey J. Izant and Matthew J. Maddox, who are prosecuting the case.

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Description: The fiscal year of the data file obtained from the AOUSC
Format: YYYY

Description: The code of the federal judicial circuit where the case was located
Format: A2

Description: The code of the federal judicial district where the case was located
Format: A2

Description: The code of the district office where the case was located
Format: A2

Description: Docket number assigned by the district to the case
Format: A7

Description: A unique number assigned to each defendant in a case which cannot be modified by the court
Format: A3

Description: A unique number assigned to each defendant in a case which can be modified by the court
Format: A3

Description: A sequential number indicating whether a case is an original proceeding or a reopen
Format: N5

Description: Case type associated with the current defendant record
Format: A2

Description: A concatenation of district, office, docket number, case type, defendant number, and reopen sequence number
Format: A18

Description: A concatenation of district, office, docket number, case type, and reopen sequence number
Format: A15

Description: The status of the defendant as assigned by the AOUSC
Format: A2

Description: A code indicating the fugitive status of a defendant
Format: A1

Description: The date upon which a defendant became a fugitive
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date upon which a fugitive defendant was taken into custody
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date when a case was first docketed in the district court
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date upon which proceedings in a case commenced on charges pending in the district court where the defendant appeared, or the date of the defendant’s felony-waiver of indictment
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: A code used to identify the nature of the proceeding
Format: N2

Description: The date when a defendant first appeared before a judicial officer in the district court where a charge was pending
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: A code indicating the event by which a defendant appeared before a judicial officer in the district court where a charge was pending
Format: A2

Description: A code indicating the type of legal counsel assigned to a defendant
Format: N2

Description: The title and section of the U.S. Code applicable to the offense committed which carried the highest severity
Format: A20

Description: A code indicating the level of offense associated with FTITLE1
Format: N2

Description: The four digit AO offense code associated with FTITLE1
Format: A4

Description: The four digit D2 offense code associated with FTITLE1
Format: A4

Description: A code indicating the severity associated with FTITLE1
Format: A3

Description: The title and section of the U.S. Code applicable to the offense committed which carried the second highest severity
Format: A20

Description: A code indicating the level of offense associated with FTITLE2
Format: N2

Description: The four digit AO offense code associated with FTITLE2
Format: A4

Description: The four digit D2 offense code associated with FTITLE2
Format: A4

Description: A code indicating the severity associated with FTITLE2
Format: A3

Description: The title and section of the U.S. Code applicable to the offense committed which carried the third highest severity
Format: A20

Description: A code indicating the level of offense associated with FTITLE3
Format: N2

Description: The four digit AO offense code associated with FTITLE3
Format: A4

Description: The four digit D2 offense code associated with FTITLE3
Format: A4

Description: A code indicating the severity associated with FTITLE3
Format: A3

Description: The FIPS code used to indicate the county or parish where an offense was committed
Format: A5

Description: The date of the last action taken on the record
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date upon which judicial proceedings before the court concluded
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date upon which the final sentence is recorded on the docket
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date upon which the case was closed
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The total fine imposed at sentencing for all offenses of which the defendant was convicted and a fine was imposed
Format: N8

Description: A count of defendants filed including inter-district transfers
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants filed excluding inter-district transfers
Format: N1

Description: A count of original proceedings commenced
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants filed whose proceedings commenced by reopen, remand, appeal, or retrial
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants terminated including interdistrict transfers
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants terminated excluding interdistrict transfers
Format: N1

Description: A count of original proceedings terminated
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants terminated whose proceedings commenced by reopen, remand, appeal, or retrial
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants pending as of the last day of the period including long term fugitives
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants pending as of the last day of the period excluding long term fugitives
Format: N1

Description: The source from which the data were loaded into the AOUSC’s NewSTATS database
Format: A10

Description: A sequential number indicating the iteration of the defendant record
Format: N2

Description: The date the record was loaded into the AOUSC’s NewSTATS database
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: Statistical year ID label on data file obtained from the AOUSC which represents termination year
Format: YYYY

Data imported from FJC Integrated Database
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