JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Tonight, Action News Jax learned about a federal indictment that claims the former leaders of the ‘Duval Teachers United’ stole more than $2.6 million from the union they spent decades leading.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
We brought this to you as breaking news in our 5 p.m. newscast.
DTU Former President Terrie Brady and Former Executive Vice President Ruby George each face eight counts of wire fraud and three counts of mail fraud. Brady is also facing two counts of money laundering charges.
This indictment explains why FBI and IRS agents searched through DTU’s headquarters in 2023, and why a month later, both leaders had abruptly resigned. This is something that shocked one of the union’s 6500 members.
“I think we were collectively stunned,” DTU Member Chris Guerrieri told Action News Jax in 2023. “Never saw this coming. It really caught us off guard.”
Today, many parents and teachers spoke with Action News Jax Annette Gutierrez off-camera who said they are shocked to hear about this and said if the accusations are true, they would feel betrayed.
The indictment alleges that between 2013 and 2022, Brady and George conspired to steal more than $1.2 million each from the union by selling back leave time that they did not accrue.
It details how DTU lets employees sell back leave time, at a rate equal to their pay.
The feds said Brady and George signed off on each other’s checks so that they could hide it from the treasurer and the auditors.
But the legal document shows examples of the thousands of dollars transferred from the union’s bank accounts to their own. “It doesn’t surprise me,” State Representative Dean Black said.
Black advocated for audits within the teacher unions for years- I spoke to him tonight.
“After fighting so hard for financial transparency in our teachers unions, I find it highly ironic the president and the vice president in my own county have now been indicted,” Black said.
Two years ago, Florida lawmakers passed a bill that would require audits for teachers’ unions. When this happened, we spoke with Terrie Brady who told us, “We think we’re pretty transparent in the work that we do.”
Tonight, the union told us, “This will never happen again!”
It added on and said, “DTU will pursue all legal channels to recoup lost funds and hold those responsible accountable. We want to be clear: members and current leadership of DTU and affiliated unions do not tolerate the undermining of our members or the misuse of valuable membership dollars.”
Since learning about the investigation, DTU said they have taken steps to ensure this doesn’t happen again, including more checks and balances, hiring an outside bookkeeper, and getting approval from the board of directors before selling any leave days.
Brady and George could each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count.
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
