Posted on December 00,0000 in Fraud

Last month, a Wisconsin woman who former worked at a Lutheran Church in Oak Creek was charged with embezzling almost $100,000 in her employment there. The woman had reportedly worked at the church in a variety of capacities over a four-year period of time, including as an administrative assistant and acting director through March of this year. In this capacity, she was given access to a debt card and bank account privileges for financial management of the church.

The woman reportedly resigned in March after the pastor inquired about her use of church accounts to pay for concert tickets. By the end of the month she had resigned from her position. Among the types of theft with which she was accused were: theft of payments for childcare fees; withdrawing funds from automatic teller machines and spending them on personal expenses; as well as inflated gas and grocery expenses. In total, authorities accuse the woman of embezzling $95,778.21, obviously a lot of money.

Earlier this month, the woman pleaded not guilty to the embezzlement charges. Sources say she was due back in court this week, but didn’t mention whether a trial date has been set. A guilty plea in such a case, it is important to understand, is not necessarily a denial of all criminal liability. In the criminal process, a defendant is presented with the charges against him or her in first appearances and may plead guilty or not guilty. In any case, of course, pleading guilty should not be done haphazardly, but with solid legal guidance to ensure the defendant has the opportunity to consider the charges, negotiate with prosecutors about resolving the case, and to weigh the risks and benefits of going to trial.

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 Posted on December 00,0000 in Fraud

In our last post, we began looking at a case in which a Wisconsin woman has been charged with embezzling nearly $100,000 during her employment at an Oak Creek Lutheran Church. Earlier this month, she pleaded not guilty to the embezzlement charges. As we said last time, there are a variety of reasons why a defendant might choose to plead not guilty in a criminal case.

One obvious reason is that the defendant denies that he or she is guilty of a criminal offense. In such cases, the defendant works to build a case that prosecutors do not have sufficient evidence to justify conviction on the charges. In the case of embezzlement, a lack of documentation that there was any theft, lack of opportunity to access company funds, the possibility of other individuals having stolen the funds in question, and other factors become important in such cases.

In many embezzlement cases, a not guilty plea is not so much about denying all liability, but about denying the accuracy of charges. A defendant, in other words, is not necessarily denying all guilt for missing funds, but the sufficiency of the state’s evidence, particularly with respect to the amount of stolen funds. Inaccuracy of criminal charges is no small matter in embezzlement cases, since the outcome of such cases depends on the amount of theft involved. In cases where the state has significant evidence of superstition, disputing the accuracy of the amount stolen can, therefore, become an important issue in an embezzlement case.

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 Posted on December 00,0000 in OWI

At Bucher, Wolff & Sonderhouse, LLP, we know that nobody wants to have an Ignition Interlock Device (IID) in their vehicle. These devices require you to blow into them, and if you have the smallest amount of alcohol on your breath, the device will render your car undrivable. You will also have to intermittently blow into the device while operating your vehicle.

Like it or not, if you've been convicted of drunk driving, you IID device could become a faithful companion for many months. You need to make sure you understand all the rules that apply to your IID to avoid getting into further trouble. You'll also want to know how it works so that you don't make a mistake that results in a legal violation.

How your IID is helping you

In the past, a drunk driving conviction could prevent you from driving an automobile for months. Losing your driving privileges is a significant problem in the modern world -- such a problem that many people with DUI convictions would continue driving. Lawmakers soon realized, after numerous repeat DUI offenses, that they needed a new strategy to prevent drunk driving.

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 Posted on December 00,0000 in Criminal Defense

We all make mistakes, but not all of us make profound and positive contributions to our communities. But what happens if you make lots of big mistakes and lots of big contributions to the community? Perhaps, community leaders will come to your aid and support you by speaking in favor of your good name and past good works.

Normally, when someone gets arrested on a sixth offense DUI charge, the person is described by news media and public officials as if he or she were the dirge of the community. However, that's not what happened in the case of a 56-year-old bar owner who was arrested and later convicted of a sixth operating while intoxicated charge in August.

Officers said that they received reports of the drunk man trying to get into his truck at 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 11. When police arrived, they found him urinating on his feet and on the ground, and they told him not to drive. Next, police saw the man get in his truck and drive away, so they pulled him over and arrested him on intoxicated driving charges after he failed his Breathalyzer and field sobriety tests. He pleaded "no contest" in court and accepted the felony sixth OWI offense conviction.

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 Posted on December 00,0000 in Drug Charges

Drug addiction is a mental and emotional illness, just as much as it can be a crime. Fortunately, more and more states are beginning to treat the mental health issues that cause drug offenses rather than simply sending people to jail.

Through alternative drug treatment techniques called Treatment Alternatives and Diversion (TAD) programs, states across the country -- including Wisconsin -- have helped many nonviolent drug offenders get the help they need through voluntary substance abuse treatment as an alternative to prison or jail sentences.

TAD programs in different Wisconsin counties

The TAD programs available to drug defendants in Wisconsin vary depending on the county where the alleged offense occurred. These programs have helped many people overcome their addiction problems. They have also saved taxpayers money because they bypass the costs associated with imprisonment.

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 Posted on December 00,0000 in OWI

The government of Wisconsin, along with a prominent group of bar owners, is looking to change the way the state deals with repeat DUI offenders. The Badger State saw 24,000 convictions in 2015 for DUIs, which averages out to 66 per day.

A new legislative package being introduced is designed to make the penalties for drunk driving harsher:

• It would change the minimum sentence for a drunk driving homicide to five years.
• It would change the six-month minimum sentence for five- and six-time offenders to 18 months.
• It would add prosecution for drivers who were caught driving without the court-imposed ignition interlock device. This would be on top of any penalties for driving without a license.

Previous bills like the ones being considered now have failed because of the increased costs it would add to every Wisconsin taxpayer's annual bill. The new legislation doesn't include anything about upgraded penalties for first-time offenders. Right now, first offenses are treated like a traffic violation rather than a criminal offense.

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 Posted on December 00,0000 in OWI

No one likes to have an ignition interlock device installed in their vehicle. In fact, it's an extreme inconvenience to have to blow into the device, and also embarrassing when passengers are in the car with you. Nevertheless, these devices play a crucial role in allowing those convicted of DUI to get back on the road as soon as possible.

In the state of Wisconsin, ignition interlock device usage is particularly common. In fact, the state was recently recognized by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) because ignition interlock devices in Wisconsin prevented more incidents of DUI than these devices have in any other state. In 2016, 37,299 instances of drunk driving didn't happen because drivers were blocked from using their vehicles by these devices.

MADD has made ignition interlock device laws it's top priority. When these devices are installed in a car, they prevent drivers from operating their vehicles if they have the smallest amount of alcohol on their breath.

Under Wisconsin law, any first-time drunk driver who had a blood alcohol content of 0.15 and up, in addition to all repeat DUI convictions, must install a breath interlock device in their cars.

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 Posted on December 00,0000 in Criminal Defense

In the state of Wisconsin, if you're a gun owner, it's important that you understand the legal distinction between various terms, like "carry" and "possession," for example. Understanding the meaning of these and other gun law terminology is important for deciding whether a particular defendant has broken Wisconsin gun laws.

Here are some important terms you should know:

Carry: The terms "carry" and "carrying" in the context of firearms in Wisconsin means "to go armed with," which -- in turn -- means that the firearm is on the person's body, being carried by the person or within his or her reach. It also means that the person is aware that the firearm is there.

Possession: In many cases, courts generally will not deem that a person is "carrying" a firearm if it is unloaded and encased. In these situations, the person is usually in "possession" of the firearm. The term "possession" describes someone who has a firearm -- and it could be on his or her person -- but the person is not "going armed with" the weapon.

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 Posted on December 00,0000 in Criminal Defense

Wisconsin residents need to know their gun laws if they want to avoid unintentionally getting into trouble. One area of the law that could be subject to changes from year to year relates to machine guns, which are currently considered illegal in the state. Gun owners should review the following rules and regulations pertaining to machine guns to ensure that they don't get into trouble with state and local law enforcement regarding the firearms they possess and carry.

It is unlawful to transport, possess or sell a machine gun or fully automatic weapon unless these actions are performed in strict alignment with applicable gun laws. The term "machine gun" in this context relates to any firearm that can automatically shoot -- or automatically be rearmed to shoot -- over one shot at a time without the need to manually reload, simply by pulling the trigger of the weapon.

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 Posted on December 00,0000 in Drug Charges

A 38-year-old man from Minneapolis has been arrested and accused of selling methamphetamine throughout Sawyer County. The arrest came as a part of a joint investigation by the Sawyer County Sheriff's Department and other law enforcement agencies.

The arrest of the man happened on a recent Friday evening in Radisson after authorities carried out a traffic stop. The sheriff's department alleges that they found the man to be in possession of 86.8 grams of meth, $500 in cash and a digital scale. Authorities say that they found all of these items in the man's vehicle. Authorities also arrested a 28-year-old woman who was riding in the vehicle with the man at the time of the traffic stop.

This recent arrest and investigation came in the wake of a previous arrest of the same man in September. According to police, they allegedly found the man in possession of drug paraphernalia in the previous incident and decided to conduct a deeper investigation. Later, police learned that the man was going to return to Sawyer County with methamphetamine, so they prepared to intercept the suspect, which led to the arrest.

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