A former president of United Auto Workers Local 2419, in Danville, Ill., Bob Buford, was sentenced today to a term of 21 months in federal prison for mail fraud related to embezzling union funds. Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Shadid sentenced Buford, 54, of the 100 block of Shasta Drive, Danville, Ill., in Peoria. Judge Shadid ordered Buford to pay restitution in the amount of $129,723. Buford was allowed to self-report on Dec. 5, 2017, to the federal Bureau of Prisons to begin serving his sentence. He was ordered to serve a three-year term of supervised release following his release from prison. Buford had pleaded guilty to the mail fraud charge on March 9, 2017.
According to court documents, Buford served as the president of UAW Local 2419 in Danville from January 2007 until October 2011, while he was employed as a welder at Freight Car America. During that time, the union regularly collected dues and fees from its members’ paychecks and deposited those funds into accounts maintained by Buford. While he served as president of the union, Buford made cash withdrawals and issued cashier’s checks from the accounts for his own personal benefit. Buford then covered up his scheme by mailing false annual reports to the U. S. Department of Labor. The false reports underreported the amount of dues and fees collected from union members, inflated the balance of the union’s accounts, and omitted his personal withdrawals from the accounts.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General. The case was prosecuted by Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugene L. Miller.
