DA BRIBERY CLAIMS REFERRED TO FBI

Relationships With Appleton Attorney In Question

The Wisconsin Department of Justice has referred to the FBI bribery
allegations involving former Winnebago County Dist. Atty. Joe Paulus.

According to Winnebago County Circuit Court documents, the referral
alleges a "guarantee" of a lenient sentence made by Appleton attorney
Richard Bollenbeck to a Menasha client, The Post-Crescent confirmed
Wednesday.

Melinda Otto, a former Bollenbeck client, filed a post-conviction
motion alleging Bollenbeck guaranteed she would avoid prison time at
her 2001 sentencing on two counts of causing injury by drunken driving
because of his close friendship with Paulus, then Winnebago County's
district attorney. Paulus is a subject of an ongoing FBI investigation
into alleged cash-for-leniency agreements in Winnebago County courts.

Otto did not contest the charges. Despite Bollenbeck's alleged
assurances, she was sentenced to three years prison, followed by 17
years of extended state supervision in 2001.

An affidavit attached to Otto's motion for post-conviction relief
presents as evidence claims by another former Bollenbeck client who
avoided felony convictions by contributing $4,000 to a
crime-prevention organization under a deal arranged by former
Outagamie County Dist. Atty. Vince Biskupic.

Biskupic is under investigation by the state Ethics Board for
allegedly using his elective position to financially benefit groups
with which he was affiliated through plea deals and
deferred-prosecution agreements.

A notarized statement of Sean Kilgore, a former Lawrence University
student now living in Minnesota, was filed in conjunction with the
motion prepared by Otto's Madison attorney, Tracey Wood.

Bollenbeck "informed me that he went to school with the couple of the
DAs," Kilgore's statement said. "(A)t that time, I felt I was getting
a great lawyer who may have some (legal) connections that could help
lesson the charges against me. . At the outcome, my charges had been
dropped from three felony counts of distribution of marijuana to three
misdemeanors of possession of marijuana.

"In light of recent events, ... I feel there may have been some
under-the-table bargaining. To what extent, I cannot know for sure."

Kilgore's statement was obtained by Wood to support Otto's claims that
Bollenbeck violated state Supreme Court rules banning lawyers from
misrepresenting themselves or their services by distorting facts or
laws.

A report of Otto's April 23 statements to Special Agent Dorinda
Freymiller - alleging Bollenbeck told her Paulus "is my best friend,"
or "one of my best friends" - was forwarded to the Green Bay office of
the FBI.

Biskupic has not responded to repeated requests for comment this week.
Paulus has refused media interviews since entering private practice
this year.