Former union treasurer admits embezzling nearly $100K from steelworkers

MONTGOMERY, Al.
A Millbrook man entered a guilty plea today to a charge of embezzling $98,970 from the steelworkers union where he was treasurer from 2006-2009.

Graven LeeVon Townsend, 51, admitted taking the money while he served as financial secretary/treasurer of Steelworkers Local 462 in Prattville, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney George Beck Jr.'s office.

Between May 2007 and August 2009, Townsend wrote 149 checks payable to himself or to "cash" and deposited them into his personal account after forging the union president's signature.

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson will sentence Townsend next year. The single count carries a punishment of up to five years in prison.

Townsend is free on $25,000 bond pending sentencing. The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Labor Management Standards.