Teachers Union Boss Stole, Mexico Says In Charges

MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s national teachers union head was formally charged Wednesday in an embezzlement scheme.

Elba Esther Gordillo heard the charges against her read bya judge in a prison in eastern Mexico City.

Gordillo was charged with embezzling about $160 million from union funds, as well as organized crime. The judge in the case said a decision about whether the evidence is sufficient to merit a trial would be taken in three to six days.

If found guilty, Gordillo could face 30 years in prison.

She was arrested Tuesday afternoon as she returned from San Diego for a meeting of leaders of the 1.5 million-memberNational Union of Education Workers.

She was heading the union’s fight with President Enrique Pena Nieto’s administration over the country’s most sweeping educational policy changes in more than 70 years.