Under a plea deal reached between former state Senator Chuck Chvala (D-Madison) and Assistant Milwaukee County DA David Feiss, Chvala pleaded guilty to 2 of an original 20 felony charges (one was dismissed back in February) – charges of having a state worker campaign on state time and funneling illegal amounts of cash into the election fund of a fellow Democrat in 2000. Dismissed fully were 11 other charges, including two extortion charges on cash-for-floor-votes, while 6 additional counts of campaign finance violations and having state workers campaign on state time were also dismissed but can be considered when sentencing happens.
Feiss recommended a Huber Law jail sentence of up to 6 months and a fine of no more than $5,500. Judge David Flanagan said that he was not bound to honor that, pointing out that those charges added up to a maximum of 5 years in prision and a $10,000 fine. However, he delayed sentencing until December to allow Chvala and his lawyers time to come up with a proposal for community service in lieu of jail, and extended an offer to let Chvala to withdraw the guilty pleas if he is sentenced to prison.
Extensions/revisions – here is was the original complaint against Chvala courtesy JSOnline.com, only the latest victim of my reaction to the racist Jentinel.
There also is an interesting line in The Capital Times version of this story –
When Flanagan asked him if he wanted to enter guilty pleas or have a trial, Chvala responded, “I want to have a trial, judge, but I’m pleading guilty to these crimes and I know I can’t have a trial.”
Could he be setting up an appeal?
Further extensions/revisions – The racist Jentinel strikes again.
