Gary Jones, ex-UAW president, gets reduced 28-month prison sentence
Eric D. LawrenceThe man who led one of America's most storied labor unions during its 40-day strike against General Motors in 2019 has been sentenced to 28 months in prison, a reduced penalty rewarding him for his cooperation in the long-running federal corruption probe of the UAW.
The sentence Thursday morning was an in-person proceeding, a shift from the way many of the recent sentencings in the case have been handled because of the coronavirus pandemic. Most observers, however, watched Judge Paul Borman in U.S. District Court in Detroit via Zoom as he handed down a sentence against Gary Jones that also included a $10,000 fine and an order for restitution — $42,000 to the Internal Revenue Service and hundreds of thousands of dollars to the UAW.
Jones was painted by both the prosecution and defense as someone who had continued a tradition of corruption within the top ranks of the UAW rather than starting it.
“He was a good man who found himself ... and worked in, a culture of corruption, which was the leadership of the United Autoworkers Union,” Assistant U.S. Attorney David Gardey told the judge.
Gardey cited Jones' cooperation in the case, which led to another high-profile conviction and the current agreement with the government for oversight of the union, and said he believes Jones has "a broken and contrite heart."
But Gardey acknowledged that Jones, with his skills as an accountant, made the corruption worse, and he noted an "inexplicable" part of the Jones case: the "pure theft" of $45,000.
Gardey noted that there were three separate "schemes of criminality" within the union, including a bogus billing scheme tied to union conferences involving Jones. The others, involving worker training centers, included kickbacks and bribery related to union contracts and a third thread involving Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, now part of Stellantis since the merger with Peugeot-maker PSA Group, and an effort to keep union leaders "fat, dumb and happy" to buy labor peace.
Gardey also noted that a lack of union democracy at the highest levels means there's no opposition to the UAW's Administration Caucus, a nod to the effort to change the way union leaders are picked that is incorporated in the settlement with the government.
The dissident UAW group, Unite All Workers for Democracy, highlighted that effort in its comments on the Jones sentence.
"The monumental corruption of Gary Jones and his coconspirators was possible because of the lack of real democracy in our union. UAW members need tools to keep our officers honest and accountable to the membership. Direct election of the UAW’s top officers by giving every member the right to cast a ballot for the candidate of their choice will do just that,” Scott Houldieson, chair of the UAWD, said in a statement.
The statement said that "as for Gary Jones, his legacy in the UAW will go down in our union's history as a constant and incredulous reminder of how unchecked power leads to the natural end of absolute corruption."
UAW President Rory Gamble has dismissed concerns about the way the union picks its top leaders.
“How you elect someone does not define whether they're going to be corrupt or not. Corruption begins in the heart," Gamble has said. "To say how we elect our leadership involves corruption in any way is just not true. It is simply a political reach and something being perpetrated by people who see an opportunity here from a very bad situation.”
Jones, in his remarks to the judge, apologized to his family, his voice breaking with emotion, and to the union.
“I failed them and I failed the UAW who elected me as president and as director of Region 5," Jones said. "All I can say is I am sorry. I have let them down, I let my family down, and I let my union down. I pray every day that no harm comes to the UAW and they are able to be stronger and organized because of it."
Borman, noting at one point that Jones was nervous, had to instruct him to slow down so his comments could be properly recorded. Jones took some of his time to tout his early efforts at organizing new union units among California university researchers, which have recently borne fruit, and he noted that ”I pray every day that no harm comes to the UAW.”
Jones' attorney, J. Bruce Maffeo of New York, asked the judge to "measure the man as a whole" and described the "modest courage" that Jones exhibited when he decided to step down from his leadership of the UAW. There was "clearly an element of calculation" in stepping down and starting negotiations with the government, but he accepted responsibility for his role and didn't seek to blame it on others, Maffeo said.
"In a word, he's done all he can do," Maffeo said.
In their sentencing memo, prosecutors said Jones, who resigned as president less than a month after the strike's end as the union moved to oust him, had "engineered a scheme (prior to becoming president) to embezzle union funds so he and the other top union leaders could maintain a jet-setting lifestyle."
Jones, the memo said, used UAW dues money "to pay for anything and everything he and other top UAW leaders wanted." That included $60,000 worth of cigars, custom golf clubs, liquor, lavish meals and vacations for union leaders and their families. Jones also pocketed tens of thousands of dollars for himself, they said. Much of the wrongdoing was tied to union conventions and involved the submission of fraudulent invoices.
However, prosecutors asked for a lesser sentence — 28 months — than guidelines called for because of Jones' cooperation, which they said had led to the conviction of another former UAW president, Dennis Williams, and a settlement between the government and the union. The settlement calls for an independent monitor, likely to cost "millions of dollars" paid for with dues money and the chance for union members to decide whether their top leaders will be picked via direct election or through the current delegate process at conventions.
Williams was sentenced to 21 months in prison.
In a letter to Borman, Jones had asked for forgiveness, saying he knew he was wrong in his actions but that they were a continuation of practices that began before he became director of UAW Region 5, a position he held before he became president in 2018.
"I have asked my lord and savior Jesus Christ for forgiveness and have received this mercy. I have asked the UAW membership for their forgiveness and will ask again and again whenever the opportunity presents itself, please forgive me," Jones wrote.
Jones had pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to embezzle union funds and to use a facility of interstate commerce to aid racketeering activity and tax evasion. Previous court filings, where Jones was listed as UAW Official A, accused him of offering to "take care of" a relative of another defendant with a sham job if he would take the rap for part of the embezzlement.
More:Gamble talks upcoming election, anti-corruption efforts, says UAW 'very much alive'
More:Ex-UAW President Dennis Williams gets 21-month sentence in corruption probe
The government's sentencing memo said Jones is responsible for a fraud loss of between $550,000 and $1.5 million. According to a defense memo, "Jones first joined the union in 1975, one year after graduating high school, and worked on the assembly line at the Ford glass plant in Tulsa."
In his letter to Borman, Jones said he was proud of the contract negotiated with GM, but expressed some disappointment.
"We had hoped to save the Lordstown plant and obtain something for our retirees, but GM would not budge," he wrote.
Although the criminal case against the UAW has wrapped up, the government has indicated that others remain under investigation. Fifteen people, including former top UAW leaders and FCA executives, have been convicted to date. Only Vance Pearson, another former union leader, remains to be sentenced. The case against Jeff Pietrzyk, another union official, was dismissed because he died in April.
FCA has pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the Labor Management Relations Act and has agreed to pay $30 million and submit to an independent monitor. The corporation is scheduled to be sentenced later this month.
The UAW issued a statement after Jones was sentenced, noting its efforts to restore "the full faith and trust of the UAW’s more than 400,000 members across the country."
"Former UAW Member and President Gary Jones’ sentencing today brings to a close a very dark chapter in UAW history. Jones clearly put his personal and self-interest above that of the members of his union and has been stripped of his membership in the UAW. These serious crimes violated his oath of UAW officers and they violated the trust of UAW officers charged with handling our members’ sacred dues money as well as community action funds," the union said.
Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence.