Federal prosecutors Monday portrayed former United Auto Workers President Dennis Williams as an imperious, hypocritical thief who should spend two years in prison for helping embezzle hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on luxuries, including private villas, cigars, booze and more.
Williams, 67, will be sentenced May 11, the first of two former UAW presidents convicted in a landmark corruption crackdown that has revealed labor leaders and auto executives broke labor laws, stole union funds and received bribes and illegal benefits from union contractors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV executives. The federal prosecution has led to prolonged oversight by the government that will last six years, cost millions and target wrongdoing within one of the nation's most influential unions.