CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A 42-year-old Corpus Christi man has been sentenced to 21 months in federal prison for wire fraud and embezzlement from a labor organization, according to U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei. Robert Cirilo pleaded guilty to the charges on April 28, 2025.
U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos also ordered Cirilo to pay more than $280,000 in restitution and serve three years of supervised release following his prison term. From June 2021 to January 2024, Cirilo, the former president of the United Steelworkers Local 13-1647 in Corpus Christi, made approximately 430 unauthorized personal purchases using union debit cards. He concealed these transactions by lying to union members, according to the press release.
As part of his guilty plea, Cirilo admitted that the embezzlement totaled more than $280,000. He has been allowed to remain on bond and will voluntarily surrender to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility, which will be determined at a later date. The investigation was conducted by the FBI and the Department of Labor’s Office of Labor Management Standards, while Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tyler Foster and John Marck prosecuted the case.