Former electrical workers union officer pleads guilty to embezzlement

Clinton Humphrey, 43, a lineman with American Electric Power, was paid to serve as the local union’s secretary/treasurer from late 2009 to mid-2014, when he took over as president and business manager, according to court records. Humphrey embezzled $51,811.70 from the union from March 2010 to November 2014. According to court documents Humphrey used union credit cards and checks for union bank accounts for personal use.

Humphrey appeared with John Pickett, a Texarkana attorney, before U.S. District Judge Susan Hickey and entered a guilty plea to a felony information filed in the Texarkana Division of the Western District of Arkansas. Humphrey will remain free on a $5,000 unsecured bond while he awaits sentencing, Hickey ordered. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Ferguson is the prosecutor assigned to the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Ross appeared for the government on Ferguson’s behalf at Tuesday’s hearing in downtown Texarkana.

Humphrey will return to court for sentencing in a few months. He is likely to be ordered to pay restitution to the union equal to the amount of funds he pilfered from his fellow union members.

Humphrey could be fined up to $250,000, be ordered to serve up to five years in federal prison, or both