U.S. Department of Justice
Kenneth J. Gonzales
United States Attorney
District of New Mexico
For Immediate Release December 21, 2010

UNION OFFICIAL CHARGED WITH DEFRAUDING UNION

United States Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales announced that a federal grand jury in Las Cruces has charged Gloria Porter, 64, of Chaparral, New Mexico, with wire fraud, mail fraud and aggravated identity theft offenses in a 107-count indictment.

Porter's arraignment date has yet to be scheduled. According to the indictment, Porter was employed at White Sands Missile Range at the time of the offenses allegedly were committed. The indictment alleges that, from December 20, 2005 through September 2, 2008, Porter executed a scheme to defraud the Army Military Council (AMC), a body comprised of local unions representing members of the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) who are employed by the United States Army.

More specifically, the indictment alleges that Porter, who at the time was serving as national vice president for the NFFE, the secretary-treasurer for the AMC, and president of a local union, used a debit card to access an AMC account to fraudulently purchase $13,542.33 in goods and services for her personal use.

The indictment also alleges that Porter forged the signature of the AMC president on a 2006 fiscal disclosure report to conceal the fraud. If convicted of the wire and mail fraud charges in the indictment, Porter could receive a sentence of up to 20 years of imprisonment, a $1 million fine, and up to a five year term of supervised release.

If Porter is convicted of aggravated identity theft, she faces a mandatory minimum sentence of two years of imprisonment.