Michigan Criminal Lawyers Blog
Original Case Details
The FBI has long targeted the United Auto Workers (UAW) with an investigation that has spanned years and resulted in over a dozen federal criminal indictments and convictions. While the UAW has been on the defensive with a litany of these charges targeting them, General Motors has been thought to be a target of the FBI’s investigation as well. GM has now been given the official word from the FBI that they are not a target of their ongoing investigation. This type of notification is rarely made, as the FBI is not under any requirement to tell anyone about the status or even existence of an ongoing investigation. Fiat-Chrysler on the other hand, has been on the receiving end of multiple criminal charges as the FBI has targeted them as co-conspirators with the UAW for bribery and kickback schemes. The UAW has separately been dealing with the FBI in an effort to show that those who were involved in any corruption were acting on their own and not in concert with the UAW as an organization.
Criminal Charges Involved
The following below lists the different UAW and Fiat Chrysler employees that have been charged in connection with this current corruption investigation:
• Former UAW President Gary Jones has been charged with conspiracy to embezzle UAW funds and conspiracy to defraud the United States. It is expected that Jones is going to plead guilty on June 3, 2020 and cooperate with the FBI to build a criminal case against others involved in the UAW scandal.
• Retired UAW Vice President Joe Ashton was charged with conspiracy to commit fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He has since pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
• Former UAW Vice President Norwood Jewell has pled guilty to federal labor laws and has been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison.
• Former Fiat Chrysler Vice President Alphons Iacobelli has pled guilty to one count of filing a false tax return and conspiracy to violate the Labor Management Relations Act. He has been sentenced to five and a half years in federal prison.
• Monica Morgan-Holiefield, widow to late Vice President of the UAW has pled guilty to a federal tax crime and sentenced to 18 months in federal prison
• Former Fiat Chrysler financial analyst Jerome Durden has been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for filing false tax returns and helping steer nearly $400,000 to a fake charity.
• Other lower level associates of the UAW and Fiat Chrysler have also either pled guilty or committed to cooperate with the federal government during this probe.
What’s Next?
While General Motors looks to be in the clear, the UAW is facing a possible government takeover. The federal government has the ability to do so through a federal civil racketeering case if they feel they need to in order to root out the higher-level actors in this ongoing corruption case. As this case continues to progress, the FBI will continue to work their way up to the highest-level actors they believe are the most culpable and most powerful in this scandal. While the FBI has already taken down one former UAW president in Gary Jones and two former Vice Presidents in Joe Ashton and Norwood Jewell, another former UAW president, Dennis Williams is a top a target of the FBI along with current UAW President Rory Gamble and former Vice President Jimmy Settles.
Any Further Questions?
If you or a loved one has been charged with a crime or are being investigated for one, then it is important to speak to an experienced criminal defense attorney immediately. At Grabel & Associates, our attorneys have over 100 years of combined experience in successfully defending criminal cases all over the state of Michigan. This experience extends not only to adult cases, but also to juvenile charges. We are not a general practice firm. We are a team of criminal defense attorneys; it’s all we do. We offer a FREE consultation to anyone with questions relating to a possible or existing criminal charge against them or a loved one. Feel free to contact us on our 24/7 defense line at 1-800-342-7896. You can also contact us online or come visit us at one of our three statewide locations. We can also come to you.