Tyler O’Neil, The Daily Signal
An employee at the Department of Veterans Affairs who also led a public-sector union in Texas allegedly lied on a form about taking money from his union. He faces charges of making false statements and theft.
Terry Lendo, then president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1745 union, reportedly filled out a form for the Labor Department in November 2019. On that form, he claimed that no union employee had received more than $10,000 during a yearlong period, and that he personally had received no money.
According to the grand jury indictment filed in May, however, Lendo knew that the AFGE union had spent more than $21,000, including payments “for his own personal benefit.”
The indictment, obtained by The Daily Signal, also alleges that Lendo “did take and carry away, with intent to steal and purloin, money from one or more bank accounts, of a value exceeding $1,000” between July 18, 2014, and July 30, 2021.
Lendo was no longer serving as president of the union in May, according to the Department of Labor. As recently as August, Lendo listed the VA as his employer when giving $150 to the AFGE’s political action committee.
The U.S. District Court of the Western District of Texas had scheduled a trial for Lendo in July, but he requested more time to prepare his defense, according to court documents. Judge Alan Albright granted the delay and scheduled the trial to begin on Nov. 3.
“Mr. Lendo’s indictment should prompt a larger investigation into the AFGE union,” Houston Keene, director of the watchdog organization Democracy Restored, told The Daily Signal.