Rising Star of SEIU Burns Out; Facing Theft, Tax Charges

Maybe he thought it was part of the job?

Not long ago, Tyrone Freeman was a rising star in the national labor movement, already the head of California's biggest union local and a force in Democratic politics from Los Angeles toWashington, D.C.

Freeman's quick climb up the ranks of the powerful Service Employees International Union burnished his reputation as an advocate for the disadvantaged, a man who helped improve the lot of some 190,000 workers paid about $9 an hour to care for the infirm.