A federal jury has convicted a Chapel Hill couple and two former top officials of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, finding they siphoned more than $20 million in members’ dues to bankroll luxury travel, pricey meals, no-show jobs and a grab bag of personal perks. The verdict capped a monthlong racketeering trial in Kansas City and named former International President Newton B. Jones, his wife Kateryna Jones, ex Secretary-Treasurer William Creeden and former Vice President Lawrence McManamon. Prosecutors argued the scheme bled union coffers that were supposed to support members’ retirement, health care and workplace representation.
What prosecutors said at trial
According to a Department of Justice press release, jurors found that Newton Jones and William Creeden were at the center of a decades-long criminal enterprise, while Kateryna Jones and Lawrence McManamon were convicted on multiple embezzlement and related counts. The DOJ said the scheme stretched over roughly 15 years and featured unauthorized loans, inflated or no-show salaries, improper vacation payouts and costly executive meetings in destinations far removed from the shop floor. “Union leadership that steals from the American worker will face prosecution, conviction, and prison time,” Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva said in the release.
Counts, penalties and next steps
The Kansas City Star reports that the jury convicted Jones and Creeden of a RICO conspiracy along with dozens of embezzlement and fraud counts, and found Kateryna Jones guilty on each charge she faced. Some of those counts carry maximum prison terms of up to 20 years, while McManamon faces up to five years on each embezzlement count. A federal judge has set sentencing for Sept. 1, 2026, and prosecutors have already signaled they will pursue forfeiture tied to the alleged scheme.
The money trail prosecutors traced
At trial, prosecutors laid out a 15-year pattern of spending that, according to the Department of Justice, diverted union funds in multiple ways. They said more than $5 million went to unnecessary international travel, nearly $2 million covered salary and benefits for no-show jobs (including about $1.8 million for Kateryna Jones), and an unauthorized $7 million loan was funneled to the Bank of Labor. Hundreds of thousands of dollars allegedly went to vacation payouts and family expenses. The DOJ also reported that the couple ran up more than $160,000 in local restaurant charges on the union tab and used internal expense systems to cover personal shopping, moving and tuition bills. Trial exhibits included invoices and internal meeting records that showed executive council meetings booked at luxury hotels overseas.
Union reaction and governance changes
Union members and leaders said the jury’s decision confirmed long-standing worries about executive pay and opaque decision-making at the top, and the international union issued a statement backing the prosecution’s effort to hold accountable those who harmed members, the Raleigh News & Observer reported. Federal labor officials also weighed in. Elisabeth Messenger, director of the Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards, told reporters that new reporting requirements for large unions should “go a long way in protecting the financial integrity of labor unions,” according to the News & Observer. Rank-and-file members who spoke at hearings called the verdict an important first step but warned that rebuilding trust will be a much longer project.
How this unfolded
The controversy broke into public view in early 2023 after internal complaints and comments at an executive meeting about travel to a second home in Ukraine. In June 2023, the International Executive Council voted to remove Newton Jones, the Kansas City Star reported. Several other former officers had already pleaded guilty in related prosecutions, including pleas entered this year that prosecutors describe as part of a broader probe into years of alleged mismanagement. The multi-agency investigation included the FBI and Department of Labor investigators and was handled by trial attorneys from the Justice Department’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section along with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas.
Legal fallout and what’s next
The same federal judge who presided over the trial will decide sentences on Sept. 1, 2026, and prosecutors have indicated they will push for forfeiture and other remedies tied to the alleged $20 million scheme, the Raleigh News & Observer reported. Defense attorneys say they plan to appeal, which could mean years of legal wrangling and internal union fights over governance, elections and restitution. For members and regulators, the verdict highlights an increased focus on transparency and oversight of union finances.
For now, jurors have delivered a decisive win for prosecutors, but the real test will be whether the union can claw back money, reform its practices and ultimately earn back the trust of the people whose dues funded it all.
