New Jersey Gambling Addict Embezzles $560,000

Bayonne man pleads guilty to federal charges of embezzling $560,000 from labor union he worked for
By The Jersey Journal

The attorney for a Bayonne man who yesterday admitted embezzling more than $560,000 from the labor union he worked for said the crime stemmed from his client’s gambling problem.

James J. Kearney Jr., 44, the former secretary treasurer of a New Jersey ironworkers’ union, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson in Trenton to one count of embezzlement, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

“Mr. Kearney self-reported his misappropriation to union officials back in September 2010, at which time he also resigned from his position as financial secretary,” Andrew J. Weinstein, Kearney’s Manhattan-based attorney, said yesterday.

“Since that time he (Kearney) has been working successfully on getting his life back together and dealing with and getting treatment for his addiction,” Weinstein added.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Kearney was the secretary treasurer and employee of the International Association Of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Ironworkers (Local 45 ), headquartered in Jersey City from June 2007 to September 2010, officials said.

The local has approximately 280 active members.

From January 2009 through September 2010, Kearney withdrew approximately $471,000 in cash directly from the local’s general fund account and failed to deposit approximately $90,365 in receipts from membership dues, other fees and monies received from the union’s annual dinner dance, officials said.

The money he stole, a total of $561,365, was all for personal use, officials said.

The sentencing before Judge Thompson is scheduled for Feb. 21.