June 29, 2015 at 4:51 p.m.
Woman charged with embezzling from animal hospital pleads no contest
Wigglesworth sentencing set for Aug. 12
Woman charged with embezzling from animal hospital pleads no contest
Wigglesworth is charged with theft in a business setting greater than $10,000, a class G felony that carries a maximum of five years in prison and five years extended supervision upon conviction.
In exchange for her no contest plea, the state agreed not to charge her with at least one other felony related to the unauthorized use of credit cards belonging to the Northwoods Animal Hospital in Minocqua. The state contends Wigglesworth used the credit cards as part of an effort to conceal her embezzlement of over $30,000 from the business over a period of approximately 10 years.
The plea means that the three-day jury trial set for July 8-10 will not be necessary.
The agreement calls for four months in jail, five years probation and restitution to be determined by O'Melia. She also must pay at least $15,000 prior to sentencing as a further condition of the agreement.
According to the criminal complaint, an independent accountant hired by the animal hospital in June 2013 reported various bookkeeping irregularities. In the report cited in the complaint, the accountant claimed that Wigglesworth:
• Did not deposit entire proceeds of hospital earnings;
• Wrote checks and used business credit cards for personal expenses;
• Made loans to herself and other employees;
• Did not bill certain customers;
• Padded contributions to her and other employees' retirement accounts;
• Excessively reimbursed health care costs;
• Abused pay for vacation and personal days.
The criminal complaint alleges that the police investigation verified at least some of the accountant's findings.
Wigglesworth's employment at the clinic was terminated in May 2013. At that time, she allegedly wrote a check to the hospital for what she described as "what I owe the clinic."
She was arrested June 9, 2014 and made her initial appearance on the charge the same day. She entered a not guilty plea at her preliminary hearing on July 3, 2014.
When O'Melia asked if she was entering a plea of her own free will, Wigglesworth repeatedly hesitated and consulted with her attorney, Lindsay Erickson, before answering the question.
As for the state's decision not to file the additional charge in exchange for her plea, O'Melia said that was an incentive for her to enter her plea, not a promise made in exchange for her plea.
"If you want to have a trial, we'll have a trial. If you want to make the state prove it (the charge), we'll do it," O'Melia said. "But obviously, there are some things that you have to consider, and one of those items is the possibility of those other charges being brought."
O'Melia ultimately found that Wigglesworth was freely, voluntarily and intelligently entering the plea. After reviewing the criminal complaint, he found there is a factual basis for the plea and found her guilty. He then ordered a pre-sentence investigation to help him determine how to sentence Wigglesworth. Since it takes about 45 days for the report to be completed, he set sentencing for Aug. 12.
Erickson asked that sentencing be pushed into September to give Wigglesworth more time to raise additional money toward the restitution, but Oneida County Assistant District Attorney Steve Michlig quickly objected.
"This case has been pending a long time. I think it would be appropriate, especially for the victims, to get the results as quickly as possible," Michlig said.
O'Melia offered to push the hearing back to Aug. 21, but due to Michlig's schedule that was untenable. Holding the hearing any later than Aug. 21 would cause conflicts with potential civil cases that have been calendared for September and October, the judge said.
"So we will sentence on Aug. 12," he said.
He reminded Erickson that if Wigglesworth pays the $15,000 prior to sentencing, as called for in the plea agreement, "that makes a big difference."
After the hearing, Erickson said the reason Wigglesworth repeatedly hesitated to go along with the no contest plea when questioned by O'Melia was that it was difficult for her to accept the deal.
"But it was the right decision for her. We didn't want to go to trial, drudge through all the financials at trial," Erickson said. "If she were to be found guilty, the state was going to ask for a more lengthy jail sentence."
She said she and Wigglesworth agreed that asking for a pre-sentence investigation was "the right way to go" given that her client has no prior criminal record.
"Her main concern was minimizing the jail time," Erickson said. "She understands the elements of the crime, she pled no contest, not indicating that she is guilty of the charge, just indicating that she did not want to contest the charges any further. There are some issues in regard to restitution and an amount that you will see at sentencing. She understood everything, but it's just a tough situation for her, so she was hesitant."
Erickson said she does not know how much jail or prison time the pre-sentence investigation will recommend but is hoping it will be "quite less than four months, given that she doesn't have a criminal history."
Michlig said resolving the case without going to trial was appropriate because getting some restitution for the victims is a key consideration in such cases. He also said embezzlement cases require much more investigation than crimes that involve one incident in time.
"This type of charge is difficult for law enforcement to investigate and it's difficult to prosecute. You have a situation where the defendant has control of the records, and she has the ability to move things around in accounts, and it's difficult for law enforcement, or anyone else, to go back and retrace those records and come up with an exact amount that she may have taken," Michlig said. "So I'm pleased that we were able to get her to plead to this charge."
Michlig said the additional felony that he considered filing stemmed from Wigglesworth's alleged illegal use of credit cards to help conceal her thefts from the main account. He said it would have been a difficult charge to prove in court because such a charge usually involves fraud.
"To deal with these cash flow problems (in the animal hospital's account) she would take out these loans on the credit cards and then put the money into the business," Michlig said. "The difficult part of that charge, and it would have been an interesting legal question, is in order for us to convict her of that charge, she has to defraud someone. And the question would be, if you take out a credit card, if you have someone's credit card, and you take out money, and you give the money to that person or entity, is that a crime? I was hopeful that if we went forward, we could have gotten a conviction."
He did say that the animal hospital did end up paying interest on those credit card cash advances, which were allegedly spread out over several cards.
"It was clear that she was doing this for a long period of time," he said.
Michlig also said he made withholding the additional charge part of the plea agreement to give Wigglesworth a strong incentive to take the plea. Sparing the owners of the animal hospital from having to bear their financial records in court was an important consideration, he said.
He also said it is preferable for a restitution hearing to be held after sentencing because the court can make a firm ruling on how much Wigglesworth must pay back without having a drawn-out process where witnesses have to be called.
"It's much easier to do that at a restitution hearing, which is done informally, (rather) than during a trial," Michlig said.
O'Melia is not bound by the terms of the plea agreement, and may sentence Wigglesworth to any period of incarceration up to and including the maximum. He may also decide to sentence her in accordance with the recommendation in the pre-sentence investigation report, if that calls for a harsher punishment.
Wigglesworth remains free on a $15,000 signature bond.
Jamie Taylor may be reached at [email protected].
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