DETROIT — Dennis Williams, the eleventh president of the UAW, who confused monetary self-discipline and railed against corruption whereas concurrently bilking union members out of greater than $132,000, was sentenced Tuesday to 21 months in federal jail.
The UAW’s president from 2014 to 2018, Williams is the highest-ranking UAW member to be sentenced in a yearslong corruption probe that has netted 15 convictions and put the UAW beneath a six-year period of presidency oversight. Williams pleaded guilty in September to embezzlement and spending lots of of 1000’s of member {dollars} on journeys to Palm Springs, Calif., golf outings, fancy dinners and different luxuries.
Prosecutors had known as for a two-year sentence, whereas protection attorneys had argued for a decreased sentence of 1 yr and in the future. Along with the jail time, Williams was ordered to 1 yr of supervised launch in addition to a $10,000 effective.
Williams, 68, appeared earlier than U.S. District Choose Paul Borman through Zoom from San Diego. He apologized to the court docket but in addition positioned blame on others.
“I stand right here earlier than you immediately with nice remorse,” he stated. “I am greater than the actions that introduced me earlier than you on this case … I take full accountability for my actions, however most of the UAW circumstances you’ve earlier than you I knew nothing about.”
He stated he felt “silly and embarrassed” when he took his successor, Gary Jones, at his phrase that sure bills had been above board. Jones has additionally pleaded responsible to embezzlement and awaits sentencing.
“Former UAW Member and President Dennis Williams has rightfully been sentenced immediately for his crimes that put his private and self-interest above that of our members and this union,” the UAW stated in a press release. “These severe crimes violated the oath of UAW officers and so they violated the belief of UAW officers to deal with our members’ sacred dues cash.”
Williams final yr returned about $56,000 in travel expenses to the union following an inner evaluate of expenditures, and his attorneys stated Tuesday he is additionally repaid the union an extra $76,403 for rental properties, golf, meals, alcohol and cigars. He has additionally repaid the Inner Income Service $15,459 for taxes on these bills.
Prosecutors this month known as for a two-year sentence, noting Williams “exploited the lots of of 1000’s of UAW members that he led” and that “the reverberations of those actions will final years, if not many years.”
His lawyer, in arguing for a sentence of 1 yr and in the future, pointed to his prior years of service to the union.
“Mr. Williams’ life — till his conviction — was a terrific American success story,” lawyer Terra Reynolds stated.
Williams submitted to the court docket a variety of letters from mates to assist argue for leniency. One such letter got here from actor Danny Glover, who praised his “generosity and openness” and “devotion to the UAW.”
Nonetheless, attorneys tried responsible his subordinates, together with Jones, for main the embezzlement scheme tied to improper bills at conferences in Palm Springs, Calif.
“Whereas Mr. Williams ‘permitted the yearly LM-2 reviews,’ these reviews didn’t embrace itemized convention bills,” Reynolds wrote. “As such, neither Mr. Williams nor any of the opposite UAW personnel accountable for reviewing and approving the reviews might have recognized the bills. This was by design — a design set forth by Jones.”
In requesting a lighter sentence, Williams additionally claimed that he “selected to [forgo] substantial private compensation related to sitting on company boards,” which was “probably the most concrete instance of [his] true priorities.”
Prosecutors identified, nevertheless, that Williams was prohibited from accepting private compensation over $1,500 per yr from third-party employment, together with service on a board of administrators, as a part of longstanding UAW ethics guidelines.
Williams, a 40-year union veteran, rose to the UAW’s strongest place in 2014 hoping to carry a disciplined, business-oriented mindset to the union. He restructured the UAW’s areas, reduce prices, instituted budgets by departments and balanced the union’s books. UAW membership rose by 27,405 from 2014 to 2017, the final full yr he was in workplace.
However throughout that point, prosecutors say, Williams was residing massive on his members’ dime. Among the many alleged indiscretions, Williams racked up tens of 1000’s of {dollars} staying at a villa in Palm Springs months at a time and paid with UAW funds.
In keeping with paperwork included in Williams’ sentencing memo, Jones advised prosecutors that he would e-book a villa for Williams for as much as 4 months at a time, and after he fulfilled “largely ceremonial duties” on the union’s regional convention, he “spent his time as he happy, which included a every day standing tee time on the Indian Canyons Golf Course.”
Prosecutors famous that Jones — who himself admitted to embezzlement and racketeering fees — “believes that the 4 months of golf for a one week convention was obtusely extreme.”
Williams additionally accepted golf golf equipment, clothes, cigars, Crown Royal XR whiskey and different costly liquor throughout his time in California.
Because the corruption scandal started to unfold whereas he was nonetheless president, Williams railed in opposition to some former union officers whom he’ll quickly be a part of behind bars.
“We are going to by no means tolerate this sort of misconduct,” Williams stated throughout a December 2017 briefing with journalists. “Based mostly on the data we have now, we imagine a number of former UAW officers acted in a transparent violation of UAW coverage. This isn’t acceptable, and the actions of some people shouldn’t be held in opposition to your complete union and its membership.”