SAN DIEGO — The former president of Local 2805 chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees and former Department of Homeland Security officer, was sentenced in federal court Wednesday.

Local 2805 is a labor union which represents Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees in San Diego and Imperial Counties.

Felix Luciano, 61, will spend four months in custody for filing a false report to conceal his embezzlement of thousands of dollars in union dues, announced the office of acting U.S. attorney Andrew Haden.

Additionally, Luciano was ordered to repay $36,000 to Local 2805 as money that he embezzled as well as pay a $10,000 fine.

U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta found that Luciano abused the trust of union members.

According to court records, Luciano used some of Local 2805’s money for a variety of personal expenses. This included shopping, travel reimbursements, groceries, dining, dry cleaning, and paying for non-union accounts.

Records shows he did this by writing checks from Local 2805’s checking account, and using Local 2805’s debit and credit cards to directly pay personal expenses.

As Local 2805’s president, Luciano was required to file an annual Form LM-3 financial report with the Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards. This is sworn under penalty of perjury.

According to court records, Luciano underreported the amount of money that he received from Local 2805 and Local 2805’s cash balance in the LM-3 report he filed in 2018. In doing so, officials say attempted to hide his embezzlement.

As a result of Luciano’s actions, the attorney’s office says he caused a total loss of $36,000 to Local 2805.

“When workers devote their hard-earned money to labor unions, they rightly expect the officers to be honest stewards of their dues,” said Haden. “Felix Luciano abused the trust of the government employees represented by Local 2805 for his own personal benefit. We hope this criminal prosecution helps to hold Luciano accountable for his crimes and serves as a deterrent for others who might consider abusing the trust of union members.”