Former labor union president sentenced for embezzling over $280,000 in union funds
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas / Wednesday, January 28, 2026 – A 42-year-old Corpus Christi resident has been sentenced to prison for one count of wire fraud and one count of embezzlement from a labor organization, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.
Robert Cirilo pleaded guilty April 28, 2025.
U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos has now ordered Cirilo to serve 21 months in federal prison, to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. The court also ordered him to pay more than $280,000 in restitution.
From June 2021 to January 2024, Cirilo, former president of the United Steelworkers Local 13-1647 in Corpus Christi, used union debit cards to make approximately 430 unauthorized personal purchases. He concealed the transactions by lying to union members.
As part of his guilty plea, he acknowledged the embezzlement totaled more than $280,000.
Cirilo was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The FBI and Department of Labor’s Office of Labor Management Standards conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tyler Foster and John Marck prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas
