Union bosses are supposed to fight for the working people they represent.
Two Jacksonville teachers union leaders turned that responsibility into their personal ATM.
And a judge slammed her gavel when the union boss admitted using teachers' money for this home improvement.
FBI Raid Exposed Decade of Theft From Jacksonville Teachers
Teresa Brady and Ruby George ran Duval Teachers United like it was their own personal piggy bank for nearly 10 years.
The FBI raided the union's San Marco headquarters in September 2023 and hauled away boxes of financial records and computer equipment.
What they found was a scheme so brazen it makes your blood boil.
Brady and George "sold back" thousands of vacation days to the union that they never earned in the first place.
The two women pocketed more than $1.2 million each by gaming a system they controlled.
Current DTU President Tammie Brooks-Evans told the court the union headquarters was falling apart.
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The building had a rat problem, mold, and desperately needed a new roof.
Meanwhile, Brady was using stolen union funds to remodel her own kitchen and fix her own roof.
George told FBI investigators it was "an open joke in the office that Brady did not really have any leave days to sell."
When Brady needed cash she'd tell George how much money she wanted after taxes.
George would then initiate a payment for the equivalent value of leave days that didn't exist.
The two signed each other's checks to hide the theft from the union's Secretary/Treasurer and board of directors.
They lied to the union's outside auditor year after year.
They filed false reports to Florida's Public Employee Relations Commission.
For a decade they treated the treasury of a 6,500-member union like their personal checking account.
Corrupt Union Bosses Stole From Teachers Making $50,000 a Year
DTU represents about 80% of eligible Duval County Public Schools employees.
Teachers, paraprofessionals, and office personnel pay union dues straight out of their paychecks.
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Most of these people make around $50,000 a year.
The union brings in about $5 million annually from those dues.
Brady was pulling down more than $150,000 a year as DTU president.
She drove a Mercedes and lived in Jacksonville's upscale Avondale neighborhood.
That wasn't enough for her.
Federal prosecutors called Brady a "corrupt union boss" who ran a "decade of deceit and deception."
Her partner George served as the chief lieutenant in the scheme.
This mirrors a pattern of union corruption that's been plaguing teachers unions across the country.
In Indianapolis, union president Rhondalyn Cornett got 16 months for embezzling $154,000 from teachers.
A New York college union president was just indicted for stealing $290,000 for personal expenses including buying and renovating property.
A San Francisco union treasurer stole more than $101,000 from a Catholic school teachers union.
https://twitter.com/StasiKamoutsas/status/2020505335941955896?s=20
The psychology behind this abuse of power is straightforward.
People in positions of authority convince themselves the rules don't apply to them.
Brady and George had control over the financial records, the auditing process, and the reporting requirements.
They used that authority to manipulate every safeguard that was supposed to catch them.
Experts who study financial fraud say these schemes succeed when abusers exploit trust and organizational status to enforce compliance.
The union members trusted Brady to fight for better pay and working conditions.
Instead she betrayed them.
Judge Rejected Tears and Sob Stories From Union Embezzlers
Brady and George both showed up to federal court in Jacksonville with supporters filling the hallways.
Brady gave an emotional plea asking for mercy.
"I failed," Brady said through tears. "Because of my actions, I have lost their trust."
George, 82 years old and in a wheelchair, delivered her own tearful speech.
"I don't know how I got off track," George claimed. "It boggles my mind."
Chief U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard wasn't buying it.
"Just as we tell our children that two wrongs don't make a right, a lifetime of service and commitment cannot excuse or erase a decade of brazen, willful theft," Howard said.
The judge specifically mentioned being struck by testimony about the union building's condition.
George had told the FBI that Brady used stolen money to "fix her own roof and remodel her own kitchen" while the union headquarters fell into disrepair.
Howard sentenced Brady to 27 months in federal prison.
George got 12 months and one day plus six months of home confinement.
Both women were ordered to pay back the full $2.6 million they stole.
Brady already wrote a check for $1.3 million to fulfill her forfeiture obligation.
George has paid about $160,000 so far.
The judge called it what it was: "a decade of stealing" from the very people they were supposed to serve.
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Some viewers criticized the sentences as too lenient for stealing millions.
But a former federal prosecutor noted that white-collar fraud cases typically result in shorter sentences than violent crimes.
Brady and George must report to a low-security federal prison camp by April 16.
The judge recommended facilities in Marianna or Ocala.
Current union leadership says they're implementing new safeguards including dual signatures on checks and monthly financial reports.
But the damage to DTU's reputation won't be repaired anytime soon.
"I don't think we'll probably come back from this for a very, very long time," Brooks-Evans admitted.
Teachers who paid dues for years are still waiting to see if any of the recovered money will actually make it back to the union.
Brady and George turned a position of trust into a criminal enterprise that betrayed 6,500 working people who counted on them.
Sources:
- U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Florida, "Former President and Vice President of Jacksonville Teachers Union Sentenced to Federal Prison for Embezzling Millions in Union Funds," February 10, 2026.
- Megan Mallicoat, "Teachers' union leaders sentenced to prison for stealing $2.5M," Jacksonville Today, February 9, 2026.
- Nicholas Brooks, "Former Duval Teachers United Leaders sentenced in federal fraud case," Action News Jax, February 9, 2026.
- Florida Times-Union, "A former teachers union leader got 2 years for stealing $1M. Some say she deserved more, ex-prosecutor defends sentence," News4JAX, February 10, 2026.
- Kiley Vaughan, "Former president, vice president of Jacksonville teachers' union pled guilty to embezzling $2.6 million," WTSP, February 10, 2026.
