The widow of a former top United Auto Workers official was sentenced to 18 months in jail for tax evasion uncovered during a federal investigation of the illicit diversion from training funds set up jointly by the UAW and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V.
Monica Morgan, 55, the widow of General Holiefield, the late UAW Vice President, who was at the center of the training-center scandal, was handed the jail time by a federal judge in Detroit.
Holiefield headed the UAW’s Chrysler Department from 2006 until his retirement in 2014 and has been described by FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne as critical to the company’s comeback. Holiefield died in 2015.
However, the federal investigation into the training funds has fund that Holiefield and former FCA vice president Alphons Iacobelli diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars from the training funds for personal use, including paying off the mortgage on Holiefield’s home in suburban Detroit.
(UAW, FCA head to court to retrieve stolen funds. Click Here for the story.)
Iacobelli, who is still awaiting sentencing, said the diversions were part of an effort to influence contracts discussions with union representatives. A total of five other FCA and UAW officials have been indicted or pleaded guilty to federal charges felony charges.
The UAW is conducting its own investigation into the mishandling of training funds, but it is unclear whether the result of the internal review will be made public or disclosed to union members.
(Click Here for details about the Feds securing a new indictment in FCA-UAW scandal.)
Gary Jones, the new UAW president, has described the misappropriation of training funds as a failure of individuals who put personal greed ahead of their responsibilities to the UAW and its members. It was not a failure of the institution, he said.
Monica Morgan will also serve a year of supervised release and pay a $25,000 fine, a judge decided. In the plea deal she signed last winter with federal authorities, who said she used the money to finance a “high-flying lifestyle during her marriage to Holiefield,” Morgan also agreed to make $100,000 in restitution to the U.S. government.
(To see more about Morgan’s guilty plea, Click Here.)
Morgan’s attorney had asked for a more lenient sentence but the judge said federal sentencing guidelines precluded a lighter sentence on the tax evasion charge.
Joe,my friend William Hanline a week and a half ago sent Atty Gen Jeff Sessions letter documenting Joint Training funds from their inception. There is also another matter,JOINT FUND REIMBURSED UAW STAFF that neither the press or the bankruptcy Judge has addressed..Bill has been researching JTF for over 20 years thru court docs ,IRS filings and 990 filings.Years ago I convinced Jennifer Dixon to do a piece on Bill and JF. I would encourage you to speak to my friend for the rest of the story.He is a GM retiree 2563507181.
I thought 18 months IS a lenient sentence. 18 months, most likely will serve 12 ~ 14. Very knowledgeable / capable attorney indeed plus taking the plea very early