to McLaughlin's re-election campaign committee," was put on the CLC payroll, and was given "a no-show job with a street-light contractor." Levitas "angrily denied" the charges involving her, describing herself as a victim of McLaughlin, but her step-uncle, Demetrius Pabers, told a reporter that McLaughlin had picked her up in a strip club in Queens, where she was stripping at the time, had showered her with money, and had given her a no-show job. She insisted that it had been a real job. "What upsets me is I look like his partner in crime. I'm nothing close to that." Another one of the women whom McLaughlin had allegedly showered with gifts and cash was reported to be Sonia Menezes, "an attractive beauty-spa operator with whom he carried on a long-term relationship." McLaughlin, represented by Jonathan Bach, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Federal District Court in Manhattan before Magistrate Judge James C. Francis IV. It was noted that McLaughlin could face up to 500 years in prison if convicted of all charges. After learning of the indictment, UFT president Randi Weingarten, a longtime friend and ally of McLaughlin, told the New York Times, "I've been walking around all day stunned." ... It's like when you hear someone you're close to has suddenly died. But nobody wants to jump to any conclusions." Weingarten suggested that perhaps the FBI had conducted the raid on McLaughlin's office as a means of pressuring him to provide evidence against others. She said she had just lunched with McLaughlin on the previous Wednesday and "was shocked to learn of the allegations... I don't think any of us know enough to judge anything today, other than that our hearts go out to Brian and his family." Following the news of the indictment, the CLC's 32-member executive board voted unanimously to suspend salary payments to McLaughlin, who at the time was on a paid leave of absence. Weingarten, a member of the board, only said that the vote "speaks for itself." Shortly after McLaughlin's arrest, he was reportedly described by his staffers as "the cheapest boss on two feet," who had "refused to pay Christmas bonuses and argued over paying a staffer's health insurance." In addition, he had compelled union workers to serve as his personal drivers. One McLaughlin staffer said, "McLaughlin never should have been allowed by a state ethics panel to simultaneously run a union