Official who stole from union ordered to prison

EAST ST. LOUIS -- A federal judge says a southwestern Illinois man who admitted to stealing nearly $187,000 from a prison correctional officers' union between 2001 and last year should spend a year and nine months in prison.

Thirty-nine-year-old Don Padgett of Granite City also was ordered Friday in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis to pay $185,000 in restitution.

Padgett pleaded guilty in May to a mail fraud count.

Authorities say Padgett was secretary and treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1304 when he issued unauthorized checks payable to himself. He also made unauthorized purchases on the union's credit card and falsified financial reports filed with the U.S. Labor Department.

Local 1304 represents corrections officers at the federal prison in Greenville.