Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars In Misspent Union Purchases Go Up For Auction

SWISSVALE (KDKA) -- Step inside the M. Davis Group Auction House in Swissvale and you can find just about every kind of consumer good imaginable.

There's hundreds of thousands of dollars in high-end furniture, televisions and electronic equipment, Louis Vuitton handbags and enough gym equipment to fill a health club.

It might look like a department store, but it's not. All of items were purchased with member funds from the local Boilermakers union by former president Ray Ventrone.

KDKA's Andy Sheehan: "This is the blood, sweat and tears of working people?"

"We hope we will generate as much as we can from the sale to help to ameliorate that loss and the rest of the matters are being handled elsewhere, as I understand," said Marty Davis, of the M. Davis Group.

KDKA has reported that Ventrone. is expected to be entering a plea agreement with federal prosecutors on misuse of union funds, but the scope of that misuse is alarming.

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The volume and variety of the items is just incredible. All purchased with union dues, including tens of thousands of dollars in musical equipment alone.

What practical purpose the stuff was to serve remains a mystery, but sources say Ventrone is agreeing to a plea bargain that could be announced as early as Monday.