This story was union gossip for a couple of weeks, but the MediaTrackers blog was the first to get official, if anonymous, confirmation. Broward Teachers Union first vice president Bernie Schultz is the first to reach a deal with the Broward Sheriff’s Office, receiving probation for a single misdemeanor count of violating campaign contribution laws. Schultz was reimbursed out of union dues for making a political campaign contribution.

We should expect more of these settlements in quick succession, since another 25 BTU “employees, board members and their relatives” received similar reimbursements for campaign contributions. The speculation is that the recipients of the reimbursements will cooperate with authorities to identify the architects of the payouts.

BTU was placed under an AFT administratorship after accusations of financial mismanagement by president Pat Santeramo. Santeramo was ultimately bought out and induced to resign. The AFT administratorship was recently extended until November 2012.