Feds charges 11th person in ongoing UAW corruption probe

DETROIT – Federal prosecutors in Detroit have filed charges against an 11th person in an investigation of corruption in the United Auto Workers.

Jeff Pietrzyk is charged with conspiracy. He’s accused of accepting at least $70,000 in 2013-14 from a chiropractor who was paid millions of dollars to make watches for General Motors workers. Investigators also say Pietrzyk was a middleman who passed cash to someone identified as Union Official 1.

The charges were filed in a document titled criminal “information,” which means a guilty plea is likely. The new case was filed Friday on the fifth day of the UAW’s strike against GM. A message seeking comment was left for his lawyer, Robert Singer.

Pietrzyk of Grand Island, New York, was a senior union official who worked closely with Joe Ashton, now retired as a UAW vice-president.