FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - The former chief of the Broward Teachers Union has turned himself in at the Broward County Jail to face 20 criminal racketeering, theft and campaign fraud charges.
    
Officials say 64-year-old Patrick Santeramo was accompanied by wife Lynne Webb and attorney Benedict Kuehne when he arrived at the Fort Lauderdale jail Tuesday morning.
    
The State Attorney's Office alleges that shortly after being elected union president in 2001 Santeramo began to "organize his scheme to defraud the union and its members."
    
Charges include six counts of grand theft, five counts of campaign contribution violations, four cants of money laundering, three counts of organized scheme to defraud and one count of conspiracy to commit racketeering.
    
Kuehne says Santeramo has not acted dishonestly or in violation of his trust to Broward County teachers.

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