The former president of a Corpus Christi steelworkers union, Robert Cirilo, is going to federal prison for misusing union debit cards, spending over $280,000 on about 430 unauthorized purchases from June 2021 to January 2024. He also lied to union members to hide his actions.
A federal judge sentenced Cirilo to 21 months in prison, ordered him to repay the stolen money, and imposed three years of supervised release after his prison term. His case highlights the legal consequences of misappropriating union funds.
Federal Sentence And Restitution
U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos sentenced Cirilo to 21 months in federal prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered him to pay more than $280,000 in restitution, as reported by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas. Cirilo pleaded guilty on April 28, 2025, and was allowed to remain on bond while he arranges to voluntarily surrender to a Bureau of Prisons facility. The case was prosecuted in the Corpus Christi division by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tyler Foster and John Marck.
How The Embezzlement Worked
According to court records summarized by the Department of Labor’s Office of Labor‑Management Standards, Cirilo made approximately 430 unauthorized transactions using union accounts between June 2021 and January 2024, charging personal purchases and withdrawing cash.
The Office of Labor‑Management Standards lists the total loss to the union at $287,368 and notes that Cirilo concealed the activity by lying to union members. Those admissions are reflected in his signed guilty plea, which lays out just how routine the spending had become.
Investigation And Prosecution
The FBI and the Office of Labor‑Management Standards led the investigation, and prosecutors described the misuse of union funds as repeated and transactional in nature, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. In other words, this was not a one-off lapse in judgment.
The FBI Houston account highlighted the sentence and restitution order on X, posting the outcome on FBI Houston. Court records indicate the case started with an internal review that uncovered irregularities and ultimately led to a federal indictment in 2024.
Legal Context
Cirilo pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1343 and one count of embezzlement from a labor organization under 29 U.S.C. § 501(c), according to the Department of Labor’s Office of Labor‑Management Standards criminal enforcement summary. Those federal statutes carry hefty maximum penalties, although judges often sentence below those ceilings after weighing guideline calculations and any mitigating factors.
Local Fallout
Local reporting notes that the plea agreement and stipulation of facts spell out hundreds of transactions that drained the union’s funds, and that the restitution order is designed to make members whole, as per KRISTV. The case now joins a growing list of recent enforcement actions aimed at union officials who treat member dues like a personal ATM, a trend that has labor groups paying closer attention to how every dollar is watched, logged, and spent.
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