FARGO — A former union leader from Fargo will avoid federal prison time for embezzling more than $100,000 from his organization, though he will have to spend a half year on house arrest, a judge ruled Wednesday, Sept. 30.
Per a joint agreement from prosecutors and the defense, U.S. District Judge Daniel Traynor sentenced Chad Michael Waldoch, 46, on Wednesday in Fargo’s federal courthouse to time served and 30 months of supervised probation. First, Waldoch must serve six months under home detention, Traynor ordered.
The former union leader who previously pleaded guilty in the case faced up to five years in prison for embezzling $107,706 from the SMART Local 980 between Jan. 11, 2011, and Oct. 23, 2017, when he was the union’s secretary-treasurer.