READING, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Brian Burrows, the former president of Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, was sentenced on Wednesday to four years in prison by a federal judge for his role in a more than $600,000 embezzlement scheme that lasted from April 2010 to August 2016.
Burrows was convicted by a jury back in December 2023 alongside Local 98’s longtime Business Manager John Dougherty of embezzlement, filing false government reports and tax fraud.
To conceal the scheme, Burrows filed false labor management reports to the Department of Labor and false tax reports with the IRS.
A release from U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Romero’s office said Burrows’ charges pertained to approximately $391,000 of union funds used illegally to improve and repair his home, Dougherty’s and other co-defendants in the case.
“The members of a union should be able to trust their leadership,” said Romero. “They have every right to expect that their officers will act in their best interests and that their dues will be used for their benefit. That wasn’t the case at Local 98, where Brian Burrows violated his duty to his members for his own benefit and allowed his co-defendants to do the same. Burrows stole from the hardworking electricians whose dues paid his salary, took deliberate steps to conceal it, and is now being held appropriately accountable.”
Three other Local 98 officers pled guilty in 2022 to their roles in the scheme and were sentenced earlier this year.
Dougherty is set to be sentenced on July 11.