A former union treasurer in Ohio was sentenced to one day time served in jail on Monday for swindling more than $60,600 from members of the Columbus School Employees Association.

Former volunteer treasurer Phelton Woods, 72, was sentenced to one day of time served by U.S. District Judge Edmond Sargus on Monday after he pleaded guilty this summer to one count of bank fraud, The Columbus Dispatch reports.

“Woods’ defense attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Stacey MacDonald, said in a court filing that Woods mistakenly believed he could reimburse himself for work-related trips,” according to the news site.

MacDonald told the court Woods regrets his actions. The former treasurer for the CSEA, which represents about 3,300 employees in Columbus City Schools, has vowed to repay the funds, and has so far returned $2,300. Sargus also sentenced Woods to three years of supervised release.

Court records show the thefts occurred between 2009 and 2016, through 375 unauthorized checks Woods wrote to himself and a relative. Records show Woods forged the union president’s signature on 135 of the checks, while also making 38 unauthorized cash withdrawals from the union account.

Woods was tasked with maintaining records for all CSEA deposits and payments, as well as preparing annual audit reports to the Ohio Association of Public School Employees, in addition to a monthly treasurer’s report to CSEA membership, WSYX reports.

He was initially charged with 12 counts of bank fraud following his indictment in April.

Woods is one of several teachers union officials who faced charges in 2023 for stealing from members.

Former Arlington Education Association president Ingrid Gant, 54, was arrested in January and charged with embezzling more than $400,000 from the Virginia teachers union. An accounting firm discovered the alleged the issue after a 6-month audit that Fairfax County Police said showed Gant gave herself multiple bonuses and used union debit cards to purchase gas, food and other personal items between 2016 and 2022, The74 reports.

Gant was ousted from the union in 2022, but the case against her has since fizzled, with Fairfax County prosecutors announcing last month they’ve shelved the case for now.

“Due to the scale of this alleged embezzlement, prosecutors are continuing to investigate the facts of this case and potential steps forward,” Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Deputy Chief of Staff Laura Birnbaum told ARLnow.

That case played out at the same time Berks County, Pennsylvania detectives were investigating Lisa Herbinko, 49, for embezzling more than $400,000 from the Reading Education Association since 2016. Herbinko resigned as the union’s treasurer when confronted by the REA president about unauthorized withdrawals from union accounts, the Reading Eagle reports.

Herbinko allegedly admitted to embezzling the funds and offered to repay them when confronted, according to the complaint.

In September, Bellport Teachers Association Affiliates treasurer Fannie Bowe, 54, was arraigned on grand larceny and other charges in a Suffolk County, New York court for stealing from the union representing teacher assistants and school aides in the South Country Central School District since Oct. 2020.

Prosecutors allege Bowe used her union-issued debit card to make more than $2,500 in purchases and $18,000 in withdrawals from ATMs between July 2021 and January 2023, according to the Daily Voice.

Bowe pleaded guilty on Dec. 6, but is not scheduled to be sentenced until Dec. 5, 2024, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office reports.

“Being elected as treasurer is of high honor in which your colleagues entrust you to uphold the integrity of their organization,” said District Attorney Tierney. “This defendant took advantage of that trust for her own selfish reasons. We will continue to pursue any individual who thinks that they can get away with stealing funds from hard-working employees.”

Still other cases of union embezzlement were uncovered this year in Bensalem and New Castle Pennsylvania; and Kennewick, Washington; as well.