Union treasurer pleads guilty to mail fraud

KSDK -- A former treasurer and secretary of the American Federal of Government Employees Local 1304 pleaded guilty to mail fraud.

39-year-old Don Padgett of Granite City, Illinois could face up to twenty years in prison when sentenced September 4.

Padgett's crimes took place between November 20, 2001 and May 23, 2008 in Wayne County, Illinois. Padgett admitted that as the Secretary Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer of the union, he wrote unauthorized checks to himself, made unauthorized purchases on the union's credit card and falsified
information in the union's financial reports and falsified reports filed with the Department of Labor.

AFGE Local 1304's members consist of correctional officers at the Federal Correctional Institution in Greenville, Illinois. The Government alleged that Padgett misappropriated approximately
$186,997.

The union is funded by union dues by correctional employees of $18 every two weeks.