By Michael Donoghue, Vermont News First
The former president of a labor union covering some U.S. Department of Homeland Security employees throughout Vermont and across northern New York has admitted embezzling at least $36,000 in union funds, according to federal court records in Burlington.
Leticia Russi-Shareno, 60, has signed a plea agreement in U.S. District Court in which she admits to federal wire fraud, records show. She admitted to diverting funds from a Vermont Federal Credit Union account between August 2019 and December 2020, the 10-page agreement said.
Russi-Shareno was living in Kenmore, N.Y., a Buffalo suburb, at the time, federal court records show. She is believed to still be in that area.
Russi-Shareno held several leadership posts with Local 2076 of the American Federation of Government Employees — a union with about 225 members in Vermont and Northern New York.
The AFGE national office, which represents about 800,000 workers across multiple federal agencies, did not respond to phone and email inquiries about the case. It was unclear if the union, which is affiliated with the AFL-CIO, would help defend Russi-Shareno.
Russi-Shareno has agreed to forfeit at least $36,000 to cover the loss of out-of-pocket expenses for the union, the plea agreement states.
During 2019 and 2020 while serving as union president, Russi-Shareno had check-signing authority on the VFCU bank account and also had a debit card, the criminal charge notes.
Russi-Shareno was working as a legal instrument examiner for Citizenship and Immigration Services at DHS, the records note.
Her job was believed to be a civilian post without sworn law enforcement duties.
Attempts to reach her and her Burlington defense lawyer Mark Kaplan were unsuccessful.
A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Nikolas “Kolo” Kerest said this week the office would have no comment on the case.
Under the plea agreement, Russi-Shareno has agreed to waive formal indictment by a federal grand jury and will allow the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Vermont to proceed by filing the felony charge. Indictments by a grand jury are normally needed in federal court for the filing of a felony charge.
Russi-Shareno is due to formally enter her guilty plea at her arraignment Dec. 10 before Chief Federal Judge Christina Reiss in Burlington, court records show.
Court records maintain that between August 2019 and December 2020, Russi-Shareno developed a scheme to defraud the Local 2076 through false pretenses.
Russi-Shareno “made many ATM withdrawals from the VFCU account and used those moneys for her personal benefit,” the criminal charge said.
The defendant also used the Local 2076 debit card to purchase goods and services for her own benefit and received duplicate reimbursement checks for expenses for which she had been paid, it said.
Russi-Shareno also failed to deposit checks issued to Local 2076 by AFGE’s national office to remit the local share of annual dues collected by the Washington DC office, records show.
“Instead, the defendant cashed the checks or deposited them into a personal bank account and used the proceeds for her own benefit and enjoyment,” the criminal charge maintains.
“In an attempt to cover-up her embezzlements, Russi-Shareno falsified expenses reports and records,” the charge stated.
Russi-Shareno could be jailed for up to 20 years, face up to 3 years of supervised release when discharged from prison and fined up to $250,000.
Due to her early cooperation, she and the government are likely to ask for a sentence on the low end of the federal sentencing guidelines, which are advisory. By accepting responsibility early in the federal court system, the sentence can be reduced.
Judge Reiss is expected to ask for a Pre-Sentence Report from the U.S. Probation Office before scheduling the sentencing.
The plea agreement also calls on the government not to file any other criminal charges that it was aware of when she signed the documents.