[A] senior adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders and a member of the negotiating team that recently drafted his presidential campaign’s staff union contract was convicted in 2013 of embezzling funds from a steel workers union.
On Wednesday, the Sanders’ campaign announced it had reached an agreement on its historic union contract with United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400.
Following the announcement, Charles Rocha, a senior adviser who helped orchestrate the agreement, announced on Twitter he was “proud to have been on the negotiating committee” that worked on the contract for Sanders’ campaign staff.
Rocha, who also worked for Sanders in 2016, was convicted six years ago for embezzling money from the United Steelworkers Union when he served as political director.
In 2013, Rocha was sentenced to two years probation and to pay a $2,000 fine for embezzling United Steelworkers Union funds. Before pleading guilty to the embezzlement charge and being sentenced, Rocha had already been ordered to pay $12,449 back to the union, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Rocha illegally used union money to buy $400 in Stanley Cup finals tickets. He also paid thousands of dollars for golf trips in South Carolina and Florida between the end of 2008 and midway through 2009, according to court documents.
I am proud to be a Senior Advisor to @BernieSanders and I’m so proud to have been on the negotiating committee for this historic contact.Together we have established guidelines and procedures that should guide all campaigns in the future. https://t.co/Ag3fxYxh0k #BernieSanders
— Chuck Rocha (@ChuckRocha) May 8, 2019
Rocha did not return requests for comment.
Jeff Weaver, a senior adviser for Sanders, told VTDigger that Rocha had paid the price for his misdeeds and that he is a valued part of the campaign.
“Chuck Rocha made a mistake earlier in life and served his probation and paid his fine. He has since established a successful business that has served as a pipeline for young people of color into the world of politics,” Weaver said.
Weaver went on to say that by reporting on Rocha, who is Latino, and his criminal conviction, VTDigger was helping to uphold systemic racism.
“Sadly, like too many others in our society, the Vermont Digger wants to brand people like Chuck Rocha for life — an attitude that disproportionately impacts black and brown people and poor people,” Weaver said. “This is just another way systemic racism works. It’s disappointing that VTDigger is helping to uphold it.”
Rocha’s criminal history received little media attention while he worked for Sanders’ ill-fated 2016 challenge to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
In reaction to a 2016 report in Politico, Weaver, who was Sanders’ campaign manager at the time, said he had no issue with Rocha’s behavior.
“It’s not politically sensitive at all,” Weaver told Politico. “I’m not politically afraid of this story at all. Please, I’m asking you to print.”
Both the UFCW Local 400 and the United Steelworkers Union would not comment on Rocha’s role in the Sanders campaign or on the union contract negotiations.
Rocha, who rejoined the Sanders team in February, is also the president of Solidarity Strategies, a political consulting firm that has been paid $71,750 by the campaign for event planning this year, according to the most recent campaign finance filings.