DETROIT (AP) – Prosecutors on Thursday charged the former president of the United Auto Workers with corruption, alleging he plotted with others to embezzle more than $1 million to splurge on private villas, golf outings, boozy meals and horseback rides on beaches.
The federal government has been marching toward Gary Jones for months, after an embarrassing search of his Detroit-area home and a series of guilty pleas in a wide-ranging investigation of UAW leaders living the high life while representing blue collar workers.
“We stand before you today because of greed – pure and simple greed. … The charges against Gary Jones are offensive to the hard-working men and women of the UAW,” said Steve D’Antuono, the head of the FBI in Detroit.
Jones was charged with conspiring to embezzle, to aid racketeering and to defraud the government. The document was titled a criminal “information,” which signals that a guilty plea is likely.
Defense attorney J. Bruce Maffeo offered no comment. Jones was UAW president for about 1 1/2 years before quitting under a cloud in November.