PEORIA, Ill. (WAND) - A Danville man who formerly served as the president of United Auto Workers Local 2419 has been sentenced to nearly two years in prison for mail fraud.
The U.S. Department of Justice says Bob Buford, 54, was sentenced to 21 months in prison for mail fraud related to embezzling union funds. In addition to the prison sentence, Buford was ordered to pay $129,723 in restitution, and will have to serve three years of supervised release after completing his prison term.
Court documents show that Buford served as UAW Local 2419 president from January 2007 until October 2011, during which he maintained accounts where members' union dues and fees were deposited. During this time, court records state that Buford made cash withdrawals and issued cashier's checks from the accounts for his own personal benefit, and mailed false reports to the U.S. Department of Labor, which underreported the amounts of dues and fees collected, inflated the amount of money in the accounts, and omitted his personal withdrawals from the accounts.
