Former U.A.W. Chief Charged With Misusing Union Funds
On the day Mr. Jones’s home was raided, federal agents also searched other locations, including the union’s 1,000-acre retreat, known as Black Lake, in Onaway, Mich.; the Hazelwood, Mo., office of U.A.W. Region 5, which Mr. Jones once led; and Mr. Williams’s home in Corona, Calif.
Among the sites searched at the Michigan retreat was a lakeside cabin being built for the exclusive use of Mr. Williams, who led the union from 2014 to 2018.
Mr. Williams, who joined the union as a welder, later served as a regional leader and secretary-treasurer. When the charges involving the misuse of training funds to benefit Fiat Chrysler and U.A.W. officials emerged in 2017, he said the union “had absolutely no knowledge of the fraudulent activities detailed in this indictment until they were brought to our attention by the government.”
As the case widened this year, an associate of Mr. Jones’s in Region 5, Edward N. Robinson, was charged on Oct. 31 with drawing more than $1.5 million from union accounts over several years and sharing the money with a person prosecutors identified only as “U.A.W. Official A.”
Two days later, the U.A.W. board convened and announced that Mr. Jones would take a paid leave. Rory Gamble, a union vice president who led the bargaining with Ford, was named interim president.
Union officials have confirmed that references in court filings to “Official A” and “Official B” referred to Mr. Jones and Mr. Williams.
Another union official, Vance Pearson, was charged in September with embezzlement, money laundering, wire fraud, conspiracy and other offenses. Mr. Pearson, who led the Region 5 office after serving as Mr. Jones’s lieutenant there, resigned on Nov. 24 as the union’s board took steps to remove him. He pleaded guilty on Feb. 7 after agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors in the investigation and awaits sentencing.