FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MONDAY, AUGUST 2, 2004 WWW.USDOJ.GOV CRM (202) 514-2007 TDD (202) 514-1888 WASHINGTON, D.C.- Christopher A. Wray, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice, announced that Joseph F. Paulus, former District Attorney of Winnebago County, Wisconsin, was sentenced today in federal court to more than four years (58 months) in prison for taking bribes while he was District Attorney. Paulus, 45, was the elected district attorney in Winnebago County from 1989 to 2003. Paulus pled guilty on Apr. 26, 2003, to one count of use of the mail and interstate facilities to promote bribery and one count of filing a false tax return. The sentencing occurred this morning before Judge William Griesbach of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.
At his plea hearing, Paulus admitted that he took bribes from a defense attorney in return for Pauluss use of his official position as District Attorney to provide the attorneys clients with favorable treatment. Paulus admitted that he received one half of the attorneys client fees as payment for the concessions that he made to each defendant. The concessions included dismissing cases, reducing charges, returning seized property, and requesting that another countys District Attorney give lenient treatment to one of the attorneys clients. Paulus took approximately $48,050 in bribes from the attorney in about 22 criminal and traffic cases. Paulus further admitted that he failed to declare this money on his tax returns.
Paulus admitted that, in a case in which a defendant was arrested for possessing marijuana plants and marijuana growing equipment and was charged with the felony of manufacturing marijuana in the amount of more than 50 plants, he accepted a cash payment of $3,750 from the defense attorney in exchange for personally approving a misdemeanor plea offer. In another case, a defendant who had a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.18 at the time of arrest was charged with third-offense operating while intoxicated, a charge which carries mandatory jail time. In exchange for a $2,500 payment from the attorney, Paulus reduced the charge to reckless driving. In that instance, the defendant was fined, but did not go to jail.
As part of his plea agreement, Paulus has surrendered his license to practice law.
The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin is recused in this matter. This case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Howard Sklamberg and Noah Bookbinder of the Public Integrity Section, headed by Noel L. Hillman, Chief, and was the product of a lengthy investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Criminal Investigations Division of the Internal Revenue Service. 04-532
Source: US Department of Justice
