Please E-mail suggested additions, comments and/or corrections to Kent@MoreLaw.Com.
Help support the publication of case reports on MoreLaw
Date: 07-07-2020
Case Style:
United States of America v. John La Fave
Case Number: 2:20-cr-00105-JPS-SCD
Judge: J.P. Stadtmueller
Court: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin (Milwaukee County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: United States District Attorney’s Office
Defendant's Attorney:
Call 918-582-6422 for help finding a great criminal defense lawyer.
Description:
Milwaukee, WI - The United States of America charged John La Fave, age 70, former Milwaukee country register of Deeds was charged with wire fraud.
According to the information, La Fave, who was the Milwaukee County Register of Deeds, devised and executed a scheme to defraud Milwaukee County and to obtain money by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses and representations. The scheme concerned La Fave’s dealings with “Individual A,” who worked for “Business A,” a company that provided redacting and document indexing services for Milwaukee County. The essence of the scheme was that La Fave directed Individual A to create fraudulent invoices that made it appear that Business A had done specified work for the Milwaukee County Register of Deeds Office when, as La Fave knew, Business A had not actually performed that work. As alleged, Business A would hold the money “on account” for La Fave to direct to be paid to other, third-party vendors who actually performed the work. Most of those third-party vendors were not authorized to be paid through the Milwaukee County accounts payable process, and some were employees of the Milwaukee County Register of Deeds Office.
United States Attorney Krueger commented, “My office will not hesitate to prosecute public officials who abuse their positions of trust.”
If convicted, La Fave faces a maximum of 20 years of imprisonment, a maximum fine of $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office, and the Office of the Comptroller-Milwaukee County Audit Services Division investigated the case. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Greg Haanstad and William Lipscomb.
Outcome: An information is only a charging document, and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: