RALEIGH - Robert J. Higdon, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, announces that today, in federal court, TERRY SLAUGHTER, age 48, pled guilty to embezzlement of labor union assets. In pleading guilty, SLAUGHTER, agreed to make restitution to the United Food and Commercial Workers Local Union 1208 in the amount of $62,315.38.
On January 8, 2019, SLAUGHTER was charged in a Criminal Information with knowingly, intentionally and willfully embezzling, stealing, abstracting and converting to his own use and the use of another, on a recurring basis, money, funds, property, and other assets of a labor organization of which he was an officer, knowing his appropriation of the property was unauthorized. This Information charged SLAUGHTER with using the embezzled money primarily to fund vacations and purchase personal items.
In 2011, Terry Slaughter was elected secretary-treasurer of the United Food and Commercial Workers (“UFCW"), Local Union 1208. The Local encompasses North and South Carolina and has approximately 3600 active members. As the Secretary-Treasurer, Slaughter had financial oversight of the Local’s expenditures, bills, staff benefits, and payroll. SLAUGHTER also acted as a counter signature on union checks and was responsible for providing monthly financial statements to the executive board as well as writing/maintaining the minutes from membership meetings.
In 2015, the UFCW initiated an audit of the Local after placing it under a trusteeship on March 30. The audit revealed that between January 2012 and March 2015, SLAUGHTER embezzled $62,315.38 in union funds by receiving unauthorized checks and making unauthorized purchases with his assigned debit card. The audit also revealed that SLAUGHTER failed to maintain required financial records and concealed his embezzlement by destroying monthly meeting minutes.
Mr. Higdon commented: “Terry Slaughter held a position of trust on behalf of the thousands of members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union across North and South Carolina. This prosecution is part of the Department of Justice’s ongoing effort to ensure honesty and integrity for the members of our union community."
The applicable total maximum statutory penalty for this crime is 5 years imprisonment, a $10,000 fine, and 3 years of supervised release and restitution.
Investigation of this case was conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards. Assistant United States Attorney Toby W. Lathan and Special Assistant United States Attorney Tamika G. Moses are representing the government in this case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
