Yes.
Brad Schimel reached a plea bargain with a criminal defendant whose attorney made donations to Schimel’s election campaign.
An attack on Schimel, the conservative candidate in the April 1 Wisconsin Supreme Court election, was made by Susan Crawford, the liberal candidate. Schimel has considerably more front-line criminal prosecution experience.
In June 2013, Schimel’s Waukesha County district attorney’s office charged Andrew Lambrecht with felony possession of child pornography.
In May 2014, Lambrecht’s lawyer, Matthew Huppertz, wrote a letter to Schimel, filed in court. Schimel had said that if Lambrecht pleaded to the charge, he would not file more charges and would recommend the mandatory minimum three-year prison sentence.
In January 2015, Lambrecht, who had no prior record, pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to three years.
Schimel announced his run for state attorney general in October 2013. From December 2013 until Schimel won the election in November 2014, Huppertz made monthly contributions to Schimel’s campaign totaling $5,500.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- Judge Crawford for Wisconsin: Crawford for Wisconsin: "Never"
- Waukesha County Circuit Court: Brad D. Schimel biography
- Wisconsin Circuit Court Access: Waukesha County Case Number 2013CF000650 State of Wisconsin vs. Andrew M Lambrecht
- Waukesha County Circuit Court: Huppertz letter to Schimel
- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Waukesha County DA Brad Schimel formally launches attorney general run
- Wisconsin Campaign Finance Information System: Matthew Huppertz contributions to Brad Schimel
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