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State Caucus Scandal Bills Still Piling Up: Taxpayers to Foot Most of Legal Fees Despite Restitution

Posted on: Wednesday, 28 June 2006, 03:00 CDT

By Steven Walters, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Jun. 28--Madison -- Three former lawmakers and a former legislative aide convicted in the Capitol caucus scandal could be ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitution, but taxpayers apparently will be stuck with most of the almost $726,000 spent so far on defense attorneys.

Legal bills paid by taxpayers continue to mount and include $21,505 in new bills submitted by attorneys for current and former legislative aides who testified in the trial of former Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen (R-Town of Brookfield).

When those bills are covered, taxpayers will have paid $725,974 to lawyers for legislators and aides. About $95,128 of that might yet be recovered.

On Sept. 8, Dane County Circuit Judge Steven Ebert is expected to order Jensen and former Assembly Majority Leader Steven Foti (R-Oconomowoc) to repay that amount in personal legal bills incurred before they were charged in 2002. Those bills were paid at the time as part of an agreement that required legislators and aides to repay legal bills incurred up to that point.

Assembly records show that Jensen's legal bills before he was charged in October 2002 totaled $67,147; Foti's, $27,981.

Jensen resigned from the Legislature after he was convicted of a misdemeanor and three felony counts of misconduct and is free on bond while he appeals a 15-month prison sentence. Foti did not seek re-election in 2004 and works as a lobbyist. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and spent 60 nights in the Waukesha County Huber Jail.

Weighing fair repayments

The tougher, more complex issue that Ebert must decide on Sept. 8 is restitution -- the amounts that Jensen and Foti must repay taxpayers to offset the salaries and fringe benefits of aides whose on-the-job campaigning they directed.

The first amount of restitution suggested for Foti alone was $300,000, although his attorney told Ebert there is a question about whether Foti could repay that much.

On March 27, Foti's lawyer, Franklyn Gimbel, said Foti was making $102,000 a year and taking home $72,000 a year after taxes. Days later, however, Foti got another major lobbying client, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, state records show.

"The number $300,000 was included in the Foti plea agreement as a stipulated amount of what he owes," Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard said in an e-mail Tuesday.

That amount is what former GOP Assembly aide Sherry Schultz was paid in salaries and benefits over years as a member of Foti's Capitol staff. She was convicted of a felony for on-the-job campaigning. "I believe ($300,000) would also be appropriate for Schultz" as her restitution, Blanchard said.

The amount Schultz owes also will be considered at the Sept. 8 court hearing.

The restitution figure for Jensen should be much larger than $300,000 in salary and benefits for Schultz, said Jay Heck, executive director of the non-profit group Common Cause in Wisconsin.

As Assembly speaker before the 1998 and 2000 elections, Jensen had staff members and all workers in the now-disbanded Assembly Republican Caucus campaign on state time, witnesses testified in his trial.

All those aides, including Schultz, were "acting at the direction" of Jensen, Heck said.

Restitution also has not been determined for former Senate Majority Leader Chuck Chvala (D-Madison), who pleaded guilty to two felonies and is serving a nine-month jail sentence on home detention. Chvala has repaid legal bills of $10,000 that taxpayers initially had paid.

Incomplete payroll records have led prosecutors of Chvala to tell another Dane County judge they can document restitution of only $2,045 -- an amount that Heck called "laughable." Chvala supervised aides on his staff and in the now-disbanded Senate Democratic Caucus who did campaign on the job, Heck said.

Chvala's restitution is expected to be set after restitution is ordered for Jensen and Schultz.

Two other legislators convicted in the caucus scandal -- former state Sen. Brian Burke (D-Milwaukee) and former Assistant Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Ladwig (R-Racine) -- already have made restitution, officials said.

After pleading guilty to a felony and a misdemeanor and serving six months of home detention, Burke paid $87,130 in restitution, Senate Chief Clerk Robert Marchant said. Burke also has made nine $800 monthly payments toward $9,497 in legal bills that had been covered with tax funds.

Ladwig paid $3,500 in restitution, Assembly Chief Clerk Pat Fuller said. She pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and is scheduled to begin serving a one-month sentence on home detention in July.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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