Albany area union fund coordinator sentenced to jail for embezzlement

Jennifer Marie Cummins pleaded guilty to a charge of first-degree theft in Linn County Circuit Court.

Prosecutors said Cummins stole money that had been collected from United Steelworkers' paychecks to help fund the Institute for Career Development. The money was intended to help workers start on a different career path, or serve as a safety net for employees who had been laid off or displaced.

Instead, Cummins, who supervised the fund, bought computers and gifts for her family and friends, clothing, food and gas, trips to the Oregon Coast, a gun safe for her husband, furniture and more, said prosecutor Coleen Cerda from the Linn County District Attorney's Office.

Cummins, who was in bankruptcy proceedings, even paid for professional credit counseling with the embezzled money, Cerda said.

Judge David Delsman sentenced Cummins to 10 days in jail, two years of supervised probation and restitution totaling more than $50,000.

Delsman noted the betrayal and loss of trust that union members felt in the embezzlement case.

“I suspect that’s done just as much damage as the financial loss,” he added.

Another count of aggravated first-degree theft and three charges of first-degree theft were dismissed as part of the negotiated settlement. Cummins has no previous criminal history.

Cerda also asked for $19,000 more in restitution for union representatives who worked numerous hours to uncover the scope of the theft. That was not agreed to as part of the plea deal, and Delsman said such an award would be outside his authority.

“I have no doubt you folks spent a tremendous amount of time trying to ascertain the loss,” Delsman said.

Aaron Watts, a union adviser for the Institute for Career Development, said that the true scope of the loss was likely closer to $200,000.

Local steelworkers also invested $80,000 and hundreds of hours to create a new training center, but they were unable to keep the building due to the theft by Cummins, Watts said.

During a lockout of ATI Albany Operations that occurred in late 2015 and early 2016, about 200 workers desperately needed new career training and other opportunities, but they couldn’t take advantage of the Institute for Career Development because of depleted funds.

“We couldn’t figure out why,” Watts said.

Later, a vendor felt uncomfortable about some of Cummins' requests for reimbursement and contacted other union representatives.

“She was ultimately terminated just for that,” Watts said.

But even after her firing, she continued to spend money from the Institute for Career Development using duplicate credit cards, he said. “That led us to discover all of the other stuff,” Watts added.

Cummins was initially charged in Linn County Circuit Court in May 2017.

Watts hoped that restitution would be used to create a new training center.

Union member Nick Gaitaud, the new coordinator for the Institute for Career Development, said local steelworkers are contributing an additional 10 cents per hour to try to make up for the fund’s shortfall.

He said that he was heartbroken to realize that someone he trusted violated that trust. But Gaitaud said he’s forgiven Cummins and moved on.

“I hope you can forgive yourself, repay your debt and move forward, as well,” he added.

Cummins' defense attorney, Mark Geiger, said that Cummins was abused as a child and learned to act in a passive-aggressive manner in response. She felt abused while working for the United Steelworkers, he said, and post-traumatic stress disorder from childhood abuse caused the thefts.

Cummins spoke briefly. “I would just like to say I’m sorry for what I’ve done and I’m sorry for the trust I took advantage of,” she said.

Her husband, Christopher Gene Cummins, an ATI worker, is scheduled for a plea and sentencing hearing in a related theft case on Thursday in Linn County Circuit Court.