SEIU's Tyrone Freeman Gets 2 Years and 9 Months in Jail

Here's what the Los Angeles Times is reporting on its website: 

Former Union Leader Sentenced to 2 Years, Nine Months in Prison

By Paul Pringle

October 7, 2013, 1:11 p.m.

Former union leader Tyrone Freeman, once one of most influential figures in the California labor movement, was sentenced Monday to two years and nine months in federal prison for stealing from his mostly low-income members and lying on a mortgage application.

Freeman, who headed a Los Angeles-based local of the powerful Service Employees International Union, was also ordered to pay about $150,000 in restitution. In addition, he was barred from holding any union office for 13 years after his release from prison.

He was convicted earlier this year in a corruption case triggered by a series of Los Angeles Times reports on his spending practices. Freeman's wife, Pilar Planells, pleaded guilty last year to an income tax charge in connection with the scandal.

Before the sentencing, a tearful Freeman pleaded for leniency from U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins. 

"I am accountable for these bad decisions," he said.