Former Milwaukee County employee sentenced to probation after releasing vehicle liens for unpaid child support
A former Milwaukee County employee was sentenced to probation for her role in releasing vehicle liens for unpaid child support. The vehicles would then be turned into cash and the employee pocketed some of the money.
Daneen Pope, 48, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a count of misconduct while in public office and Judge David Swanson sentenced her to six months probation. Swanson originally sentenced Pope to six months at the Community Reintegration Center, but stayed the sentence in favor of probation, online court records show.
According to prosecutors:
Starting in 2019, Pope, a Child Support Services employee, would release vehicle liens for unpaid child support so that her accomplice, 38-year-old Michael Morgan, could scrap the vehicles for cash. Morgan is the owner of Supreme Towing & Salvage.
Over the course of the scheme, Pope made over $15,000. None of the money went to the custodial parents entitled to child support. Pope created false documents to support the lien releases.
Prosecutors estimate Morgan made between $37,000 and $43,000 scrapping the 144 vehicles for which Pope fraudulently released the liens. He was sentenced last month to one year at the Community Reintegration Center, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official, money laundering and forgery.
A search warrant indicated Pope told detectives she took the bribes because she didn't think her county salary was sufficient. She earned just under $40,000 in 2020.
The crime was discovered after a July audit of the child support division showed Pope had released far more vehicle liens in 2020 and 2021 than the two workers assigned to that task full time.
Pope's job was to monitor caseloads for appropriate enforcement actions, interview participants, lawyers and others, evaluate reports, update data and sometimes prepare legal documents. She was also authorized to negotiate lien payments with parents who owed money and to release liens in instances where payments were actually made toward debts.
Pope held the job since 2011, except for a few months when she worked for Rock County child support services in 2017. She was fired the day of her arrest.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Former Child Support Services employee sentenced to probation
