AFSCME Local 1746 Officers Charged in $350,000 Embezzlement; Secretary-Treasurer Pleads Guilty

What the Department of Labor and Court Records Allege

Federal investigators say two former officers of an Ohio public-employee union spent years using member funds for unauthorized personal transactions. On September 30, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards announced criminal charges against the former president and secretary-treasurer of AFSCME Local 1746. The local represents roughly 1,200 employees of Cuyahoga County’s Department of Children and Family Services, Job and Family Services, and Senior and Adult Services. (Source: USDOL)

Pamela Brown, who led the local from 1997 to 2021, and Adelle Burrell-Williams, who served as secretary-treasurer from about 2016 until April 2023, were charged in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. Prosecutors allege the pair accessed the union’s finances for unauthorized transactions for their personal benefit from 2017 to 2022, resulting in a loss of approximately $350,000. The charging documents describe use of a union debit card—contrary to the local’s own rules—for cash withdrawals at casinos and the writing of unauthorized checks from the operating account. They further allege that the officers created false reports and failed to maintain required financial records in an effort to avoid detection. (Source: USDOL)

Alleged Methods and Cover-Up

Court filings detail specific examples, including ATM withdrawals totaling roughly $910 by Brown at a casino in August and September 2020 and withdrawals totaling about $1,010 by Burrell-Williams at the same casino in late 2021 and April 2022, plus a $948 check she wrote to herself in December 2021 with the memo line “Covid Cleaning.” When members began asking questions, Burrell-Williams is accused of preparing a falsified April 2022 income-and-expense report that omitted more than $2,200 in unauthorized activity. The overall figure cited by the Department of Labor is approximately $350,000 over the five-year period. (Source: Cleveland.com)

The Guilty Plea and Remaining Case

On October 22, 2026, Adelle Burrell-Williams pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. She is scheduled to be sentenced on February 27 by U.S. District Judge John Adams. Pamela Brown has not yet been arraigned; court records indicate the delay is related to serious health issues. AFSCME Ohio Council 8 has stated that it launched an internal audit and cooperated with the federal investigation after concerns were raised. (Source: Cleveland.com)

Why the Case Matters for Members

The officers were the principal financial stewards of the local. Their duties included managing bank accounts, paying authorized expenses, maintaining records, and preparing reports for the membership. Under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act, officers hold positions of trust with respect to the organization’s funds. When those funds come from public- or private-sector employees who, in many jurisdictions, often cannot freely resign and stop paying without facing often illegal negative consequences, the practical question is straightforward: what recourse do employees forced under monopoly-union-controlled contracts have while the scheme continues? The public and private sectors should end monopoly union contracts; decades of corruption illustrate the unjust nature of compelled unionism via monopoly bargaining.

Accountability Tools Already on the Books

Cases of this kind are not rare. The same Office of Labor-Management Standards regularly reports prosecutions for embezzlement, false reporting, and related offenses. Each one raises the same structural issue: monopoly bargaining combined with compulsory financial support concentrates control of other people’s money in the hands of a small number of officers, with limited day-to-day oversight by the people whose paychecks supply the money.

Workers who want to understand their options can review the Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME, the practical steps for resigning from a public-sector union where the law permits it, and prior reporting on similar financial cases. For questions about specific locals or additional documentation, contact the resources at NILRR.org and the Office of Labor-Management Standards.