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Bullock Brazenly Recounts Embezzling
Defendants James O. Baxter II, left, James Goosby and Gwendolyn Hemphill in D.C. Federal Court all face charges involving the embezzlement and coverup of $5 million in dues from the Washington Teachers' Union.
(By William J. Hennessy Jr. For The Washington Post)
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While on a cruise with retired teachers in Alaska, Bullock said, she asked a shopkeeper about making her a fur coat -- complete with fur cuffs and her monogram inside. She charged it to her union credit card.
"The gentleman said, 'We can make one to your specifications,' and I said, 'Grrrrrrreat,' " Bullock recalled with a grin. "I'm tall, and everything in the store was coming up to my knees. This was full-length. Just for me."
Bullock described how Hemphill worked to conceal the luxury items they were buying at the union's expense. In one case, Bullock said, she and Hemphill's son-in-law were shopping for a fur coat for his wife, Hemphill's daughter. When they found just the right one at a boutique, the pair called Hemphill, and Hemphill said she would "take care of" buying the coat with union funds, Bullock told the jury.
"She said the owner will put it on his construction company's name," Bullock testified. "I said, 'Oh, you can do that?' Then nobody would know you purchased a fur."
At times yesterday, Bullock gave the jury a course in high fashion. Male mink pelts, she explained, are heavier than the pelts of female minks and preferable for winter wear. St. John makes the best quality designer knits.
Cooper asked whether she knew she had spent $5,000 a month at one high-end shop in Pikesville.
"When I realized . . . I thought it was crazy," she said. "But it had been done, and there wasn't anything that could change it."
Bullock's testimony is to continue Monday.
James Goosby, a former union accountant, is also on trial. He is accused of helping to hide the thefts by filing phony financial reports.
