Grand Chute Supervisor Ron Wolff acquitted of charge he profited off public contract
APPLETON — Grand Chute Supervisor Ron Wolff was acquitted Friday of a charge that he illegally profited from a public contract while in office, after a three-day trial in Outagamie County Circuit Court.
The verdict means the 12-person jury found that Wolff acted in good faith when he bid on and landed a $26,865 landscaping contract with the town shortly after he was elected to the Town Board.
Wolff's defense was that he relied on the advice of one or more town officials, including Jim March, the town administrator at the time, who informed him it was OK to proceed with the landscaping work while serving as town supervisor.
"We're extremely happy with the verdict," Wolff's defense attorney, Nathan Otis, said. "I think this was always a situation where we knew if a jury was able to hear the evidence, they'd reached the right conclusion. Mr. Wolff didn't commit a crime, and I think their verdict speaks to that fact."
About 20 people were in the courtroom gallery when the verdict was announced. The jury deliberated for more than three hours before returning with its decision.
Wolff, 64, was charged in July with having private interest in a public contract, a Class I felony, for accepting the landscaping job. Wisconsin law limits the amount of money a person in public office can make in a private contract to $15,000 a year.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of 3½ years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
What led to the felony charge and trial?
Wolff was elected and seated as town supervisor in April 2021 and reelected in April 2023.
In May 2021, shortly after Wolff joined the Town Board, one of his companies — Lakeshore Cleaners Inc. — submitted a quote for a landscaping job at the Champion Center at the request of the engineering firm McMahon Associates Inc., which was working on behalf of the town.
The quote was the only bid received, and Grand Chute awarded the contract to Lakeshore Cleaners in June 2021. Wolff abstained from the vote.
At trial, prosecutors contended Wolff willfully ignored his ethical obligations as a public official to profit off the contract. They noted Wolff was informed about the conflict-of-interest law but didn't seek the advice of an attorney regarding the legality of accepting the contract.
"What we are trying to protect here is the integrity of how the government works," Assistant Attorney General Robert Kaiser Jr. said.
Day 2 of Ron Wolff trial: Memories differ as town officials testify in felony misconduct case
Day 1 of Ron Wolff trial: Testimony begins in felony misconduct trial of Grand Chute supervisor
Wolff takes the stand to testify on his own behalf
Wolff testified that he was overwhelmed with the materials and training he received after being seated as town supervisor.
He said no one within the town raised any concerns with his bid for the landscaping job until after it was approved by the town. Wolff said March told him there might be a conflict of interest because he was a town supervisor and that March would look into the issue.
A few days later March informed Wolff of his findings.
"He said the staff and him had found an exception — he called it a loophole — in the soil erosion laws and that there was no problem doing the job," Wolff testified.
The prosecution and defense stipulated at trial that the landscaping job didn't qualify for an exception.
Attorneys make closing arguments to jury
During closing arguments, Kaiser and fellow prosecutor Nathaniel Adamson said Wolff was fully responsible for his actions.
They said Wolff didn't act in good faith, as evidenced that he was informed about the law multiple times, in both written materials and verbally in a seminar, after becoming supervisor. Wolff also was advised to consult an attorney with any legal concerns but didn't do so.
"The town isn't there to save him from his private conduct," Adamson told the jury. "You don't want to learn the job, don't do the job. It's that simple when you have a position like this."
Adamson said the trial showed indisputable evidence that Wolff "attended a training that said, 'Don't commit this crime,' while he was committing the crime."
Otis, Wolff's defense attorney, told the jury Wolff acted in good faith and wasn't liable for any crime. He said Wolff relied on the advice of the town administrator and the town engineering firm, who told him it was OK to proceed.
If there were a problem, Wolff testified earlier, "somebody should have said something."
A timeline of the case and related legal battles
March 22, 2022: Agents from the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation execute search warrants on Ron Wolff, a residence in Grand Chute, a residence in Nichols and Lakeshore Cleaners Inc., to search for evidence of misconduct in public office.
March 30, 2022: Wolff and his wife, Karri Wolff, file a federal lawsuit alleging their civil rights were violated when their properties were raided.
May 2023: Former Town Administrator Jim March files a federal lawsuit against Grand Chute, Town Chair Jason Van Eperen and supervisors Jeff Ings and Wolff, alleging March was fired in retaliation for cooperating with the state investigation of Wolff. The case is ongoing.
July 2023: Wolff is charged with having a private interest in a public contract.
October 2023: The Wolffs' federal lawsuit is dismissed. U.S. District Judge William Conley rules the actions of state agents were protected under the doctrine of qualified immunity.
December 2023: Wolff files a counter lawsuit to March's lawsuit, alleging March set him up to be charged with a crime for a Champion Center landscaping project. Wolff claims March planned to entrap Wolff either so Wolff would need to leave the Grand Chute Town Board or so that Wolff would abandon his political platform of abolishing Grand Chute's use of special assessments to pay for public improvements. The case is ongoing.
March 1, 2024: Wolff is found not guilty of the felony charge of having a private interest in a public contract.
Contact Duke Behnke at 920-993-7176 or dbehnke@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DukeBehnke. Reporters Kelli Arseneau and Sophia Voight contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Grand Chute supervisor acquitted of profiting off public contract
