SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (AP) - A former Kohler Co. employee charged with using company credit cards to start an escort service has been sentenced to 90 days in jail.
Kirk Riddle was accused of charging $117,500 to launch an escort service using Las Vegas call girls, according to Sheboygan Press Media (https://shebpr.es/1mdY3Z6https://shebpr.es/1mdY3Z6 ).
Riddle, 47, also was accused of stealing a generator and two toilets from the company valued at $17,000 and installing the items at his Sheboygan home.
Sheboygan County Circuit Court Judge Timothy Van Akkeren also sentenced Riddle to three years’ probation Friday. Riddle pleaded no contest to two counts of felony theft as part of a plea deal. Nine other criminal charges were dismissed.
During the hearing, Riddle apologized for his actions and said he held himself “fully accountable.”
Van Akkeren said jail was appropriate as opposed to prison time, since Riddle has no prior criminal record and has paid back Kohler for the stolen amounts.
“You have the education and the training that you should be able to become a contributing member of society again,” Van Akkeren said, referring to Riddle’s master’s degree. “I do believe, however, there is need for some punishment for what you’ve done, considering the dollar amounts involved.”
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RACINE, Wis. (AP) - Former Racine Mayor Gary Becker has been arrested for an alleged probation violation.
Becker was released from prison Feb. 26 after serving a three-year sentence for second-degree sexual assault of a child and child enticement. Becker also completed sex offender treatment and is on extended supervision for five years. He cannot have contact with minors.
Jail records indicate the 56-year-old was booked into the Racine County Jail on Friday for “treatment violations,” according to The Journal Times (https://bit.ly/1azdV33https://bit.ly/1azdV33 ). He was still there Saturday afternoon.
Wisconsin Department of Corrections spokeswoman Joy Staab told the newspaper Friday that said she was checking into the reason for Becker’s arrest.
However, she said “most likely we’re not going to be able to comment more. You start getting into medical (treatment) and start getting into HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). We’re not allowed to violate HIPAA when it says ’treatment.’”
Staab did not immediately return an email to The Associated Press seeking an update Saturday.
Becker was mayor from April 2003 until January 2009, when police say they caught him in an online sex sting with an undercover agent. He thought he was going to a Milwaukee area mall to meet a 14-year-old girl.
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CHILTON, Wis. (AP) - An Appleton elementary school principal accused of mishandling a child abuse report will stand trial in May.
Richard J. Waters faces misdemeanor charges of obstructing police and failure to report child abuse, according to Post-Crescent Media (https://post.cr/1jdlXqyhttps://post.cr/1jdlXqy ).
The charges are related to a 2011 investigation into former special education teacher Mary Berglund at Janet Berry Elementary School. She was sentenced to three years’ probation after pleading no contest to misdemeanor battery charges.
Police say Waters failed to come forward with the reports in a timely manner, made a statement contrary to information provided by another witness and altered a letter regarding the case.
Waters, of Neenah, was initially charged with obstructing officers in November 2011. The case was dismissed, but prosecutors retained the ability to refile charges.
Waters’ attorney, Len Kachinsky, asked Judge Daniel Bissett on Friday to dismiss the case, arguing that there’s a lack of information to support the charges. Bissett determined there was probable cause and set the case for trial May 20. It’s expected to take two days.
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RACINE, Wis. (AP) - The trial for a 29-year-old man accused in a triple homicide in Racine in 2005 has been postponed.
Juwan Tyrae Matthews, of Racine, is one of two men accused in the deaths of Ryan Lockridge, Aaron Woods and Frank Mister.
Investigators say the 23-year-olds were fatally shot July 17, 2005 in a parking lot because of a dispute about a dice game.
The Journal Times reports (https://bit.ly/Lmg4bXhttps://bit.ly/Lmg4bX ) Matthews was to go on trial Jan. 27. But a judge granted his attorney’s request to postpone it because he hadn’t been able to talk with several witnesses.
Woods’ mother, Mary Helena, says she didn’t mind the delay “as long as there’s justice in the end.”
No new trial date is set. The trial for co-defendant Demetrus Ozier’s remains on Jan. 27.
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