Former Union Treasurer Pleads Guilty to Embezzling Union Funds

ALBUQUERQUE - The former treasurer of a New Mexico labor organization pleaded guilty to embezzling union funds for unauthorized personal expenses and concealing the misuse through false financial reports submitted to the Department of Labor.

According to court records, from 2014 through February 2024, Max Jaramillo, 58, served as treasurer of the National Postal Mail Handlers Union, Local 331, where he was entrusted with safeguarding union funds and accurately reporting the union's financial activities. From January 2015 through November 2023, Jaramillo used union funds for unauthorized personal expenses and concealed his misuse of the money by submitting false and incomplete financial reports to the Department of Labor and the union's members. On March 15, 2023, Jaramillo submitted an annual report to the Department of Labor that falsely represented and omitted material information about how union funds had been spent. Among the unauthorized expenditures, Jaramillo used $49.98 in union funds to purchase a bottle of Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey for himself on July 1, 2022.

Jaramillo pleaded guilty to embezzlement by an officer of a labor organization. At sentencing, he faces up to 20 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison made the announcement today.

The Department of Labor's Office of Labor Management Standards investigated this case. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico is prosecuting the case.