KC lawyer disbarred by Illinois Supreme Court over role in Boilermakers theft case
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Illinois Supreme Court disbars KC lawyer in response to 2024 guilty plea.
- Federal case ties lawyer to decade‑long scheme to misappropriate Boilermakers funds.
- Related RICO indictments target multiple former union officials; trial May 4, 2026.
The Supreme Court of Illinois has disbarred a Kansas City lawyer and former key Boilermakers employee who pleaded guilty in 2024 to being part of a scheme to steal from the union.
Tyler Brown, who had licenses to practice law in both Kansas and Illinois, was disbarred by the Illinois Supreme Court effective March 13, according to court documents. The Kansas Supreme Court disbarred him last year in response to his guilty plea in federal court to one count of racketeering conspiracy.
The Illinois Supreme Court disbarred him, effective March 13, as “reciprocal discipline” to the Kansas action, the court said in its order. The Illinois disbarment was requested in a petition by the administrator of the state’s Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission.
Brown was charged in May 2024 with conspiring between 2013 and 2022 to embezzle funds from the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers while he served in several positions at the union, including chief of staff to then-International President Newton Jones.
Brown reported directly to Jones and carried out his directives, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
“Between those dates, Brown was involved in numerous instances of unlawful misappropriation of union funds,” the DOJ said in a news release announcing the guilty plea.
Among his actions, it said: “Purchasing merchandise and hundreds of restaurant meals for the International President and his wife in their hometown that were not necessary to conduct union business or benefit the union or its members” and “employing several family members of international officers who received several hundred thousand dollars in salary, reimbursed expenses, unearned vacations, and benefit contributions for minimal or no productive work.”
The felony charge came a year after the Kansas City-based union’s executive council voted to oust Jones as international president, accusing him of misusing union funds for personal gain — including funneling large sums of money to his Ukrainian wife for work she never performed.
In August 2024, seven more former union executives and employees — including Jones, his wife and son — were indicted for conspiracy to commit offenses under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, as well as other felonies. They were accused of scheming to steal $20 million in union funds for personal gain.
The money allegedly went toward salary and benefits for jobs they didn’t show up for, tuition, rent, luxury international travel, meals, vacation payouts and unauthorized loans, the Justice Department said.
That case is scheduled to go to trial on May 4 in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kansas. One pleaded guilty in December 2024 to racketeering conspiracy and two others pleaded guilty this week to racketeering conspiracy and embezzlement from a labor organization. The sentencing hearings in those cases are scheduled for June and July.
Brown’s sentencing has been continued multiple times and is now scheduled for July 7 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas.
The racketeering conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.
