It's a done deal. After months of anticipation of the first trial in the 2 year long John Doe Probe into the activities inside Scott Walkers Milwaukee County Executives office, the prospect of under oath testimony of key Walker administration officials and even Scott Walker himself, the trial won't happen.
Late on Tuesday information came out that prosecutors and Kelly Reindfleisch, former Deputy Chief of Staff to then Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker had reached a plea agreement. Today, the parties to the deal appeared in court.
Kelly M. Rindfleisch pleaded guilty Thursday to felony misconduct in office for doing campaign work at her government job as an aide to Gov. Scott Walker when he was Milwaukee County executive.
The deal exposes her to a sentence of up to 3 ½ years in prison and a $10,000 fine, although prosecutors agreed to recommend probation and jail time, not prison. She'll be sentenced Nov. 19.
Assistant District Attorney Bruce Landgraf declined to answer a reporter's question on whether the issue of Walker's testimony played into the plea deal with Rindfleisch.
"This case was never about Gov. Scott Walker," Landgraf said. "It was always about Kelly Rindfleisch."
Landgraf declined to comment on why the plea agreement with Rindfleisch did not include a requirement of her continued cooperation with prosecutors or whether that was a subject of plea negotiations.
He said, however, that she may be called as a witness in the criminal trial of another former Walker aide, Timothy Russell. Russell, who also worked for Walker at the county, is accused of embezzling more than $20,000 from veterans. Russell's trial is set for Dec. 3.
In a related article the sweet deal was discussed.
Rindfleisch faced up to 14 years in prison and $40,000 in fines on the four charges against her, which grew from a long-running John Doe probe that has focused on aides of the governor . The single count she has agreed to plead guilty to carries a maximum penalty of 3 1/2 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Now she's only facing 3 1/2 years and a $10,000 fine.
And the deal also means:
The agreement means Walker won't have to testify at Rindfleisch's trial, which had been scheduled for next week. Walker was subpoenaed to testify by Gimbel. The plea deal also means testimony of several Walker campaign aides in open court won't happen.
It gets worse:
The proposed settlement of the case does not include any requirement that Rindfleisch cooperate with prosecutors on other cases, which often is required by prosecutors in such deals.
Landgraf declined to comment on the plea agreement when contacted Wednesday.
(emphasis mine)
All upside for Reindfleisch who has been feverishly trying to avoid the trial. Initially, her attorney tried to move the trial to a more Republican friendly County, then she tried to have the email evidence tossed out. She even tried to use an over 10 year old immunity deal from the Caucus Scandal, where she was caught along with many others, doing political work on taxpayer time and in taxpayer public offices. She avoided being charged by cooperating with prosecutors.
They had the evidence, they had her history of doing the same thing in the past, and they had witnesses. Why, oh why, would they ever let her wiggle out?
She is set to be sentenced on November 19 (after the election is over). I'm certain that Republican candidates are breathing a sigh of relief that they won't have the John Doe stink seeping into the voting booths.
I have a sad today.
.
Here are the trial dates as of now:
Started October 8: Start of the trial for Kevin Kavanaugh (charged with embezzling funds from a veterans group that were deposited with Milwaukee County.
November 19, 2012: Sentencing for Kelly Reindfleisch (todays plea deal - no cooperation required).
November 21, 2012: Sentencing for Darlene Wink (plea bargain/cooperating). This date was delayed at the request of prosecutors to ensure continuing cooperation.
December 3, 2012: Start of the trial for Tim Russell
.
UPDATE: I'm Going to Make You Smile Edition: The article in the MJS has been updated a bit and includes this bit:
Hansher also denied a request by Franklyn Gimbel, Rindfleisch's lawyer, to delay formally entering her guilty plea until after the Nov. 6 elections, so she could vote. Convicted felons lose their voting rights until completing their sentences.
A bit of a silver lining. She can't vote. She can thank the GOP for that and other laws that restrict voting. Karma. I love the smell of karma in the morning. Mitt the Twit gets one less vote.
.