Former Law Enforcement Union Chief Sentenced for Fraud

John Earvin, 67, was sentenced Tuesday to three years of probation, including six months of home confinement, in connection with his guilty plea on one count of wire fraud for embezzling nearly $30,000 from the union he ran.

The New Rochelle resident was president of the United Federation of Law Enforcement Officers (“UFLEO”), and from February 2007 through April 2010 he controlled the union’s bank account from which he took the funds. The UFLEO represents Special Inspectors employed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York.

Earvin also was sentenced to 600 hours of community service and ordered to pay restitution of $2,000 a month.

According to an announcement from United States Attorney Preet Bharara about the case:

Through his presidency, Earvin perpetrated a scheme to defraud the union by diverting union dues payments deposited into the [union’s] account for his own benefit, principally by making hundreds of ATM withdrawals at off-track betting facilities and other locations and making personal use of the funds. In perpetuating the scheme and preventing its discovery, Earvin repeatedly lied to union members about the account by, for example, claiming that he could not provide an accounting of funds to union members because an independent auditor was reviewing the union’s finances. As a result of the scheme, Earvin defrauded the Union and its members of approximately $28,012.

The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carrie H. Cohen and Jennifer Gachiri are in charge of the prosecution.

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