Then-United Auto Workers president Gary Jones addresses delegates at a convention in Detroit on March 13, 2019.Rebecca Cook/Reuters
Former United Auto Workers (UAW) President Gary Jones was charged on Thursday with embezzling more than $1 million as part of a U.S. corruption probe that has raised the specter of the federal government taking over the labor union.
Jones was charged in an information, a court document typically used when the government has reached a plea deal with a defendant. J. Bruce Maffeo, a lawyer for Jones, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The documents were unsealed on Thursday, but previously filed.
A spokesman for the UAW could not immediately be reached to comment.
Federal officials will hold a press conference at 130 pm ET on Thursday in Detroit.
The charging of Jones and other senior UAW leaders has shaken the union and led General Motors Co to file a racketeering lawsuit against its smaller rival Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV.
Jones resigned his post and UAW membership in November after the union removed him from office, as U.S. prosecutors widened a criminal investigation into illegal payoffs.
The charges against Jones included embezzling more than $1 million.