The United Auto Workers union’s (UAW) former regional director Vance Pearson has been sentenced to a year in federal prison for conspiring to embezzle union funds and racketeering.
Pearson was arrested in December 2019 as part of an investigation from federal prosecutors after it was revealed that millions of dollars intended to train UAW workers was instead spent by select UAW leaders. Pearson originally faced 24-30 months in prison and in his ruling, U.S. District Judge Paul Borman said he played a “minor role” in the conspiracy.
Pearson had been cooperating with investigators through in-person and phone interviews since his arrest and his attorney asserted that his cooperation assisted with the prosecutions of ex-UAW president Gary Jones and Dennis Williams, Auto News reports.
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After his arrest, Pearson agree to testify against his co-conspirators and forfeited money from two bank accounts. The first account was known as the ‘Flower Fund’ and should have been used for the purchase of flowers for the funerals and UAW members and their families. However, this account had been exploited by UAW officials for their personal use. Officials also tapped into the Members in Solidarity account that should have been used for campaign expenses for UAW elections.
The sentencing of Vance Pearson comes two months after former president Dennis Williams was sentenced to 21 months and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and restitution to the UAW totaling $132,000 for his involvement in embezzling union funds. In June, another former president of the union, Gary Jones, was sentenced to 28 months in jail and required to make restitution of $550,000 to the UAW, $42,000 to the IRS, forfeit more than $151,000, and pay a $10,000 fine for his involvement.