Former Walker aide pleads guilty to doing campaign work on county time

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A former top aide Gov. Scott Walker when he was the Milwaukee County executive has decided to make a plea deal instead of going through a trial next week on felony misconduct charges.

The Journal Sentinel says Kelly Rindfleisch will plead guilty to at least one felony count during a plea hearing that’s scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 11.

The two sides are expected to finalize the terms of the bargain on Wednesday, Oct. 10.

The 43-year-old Rindfleisch is accused of doing campaign work for Walker and lieutenant governor candidate Brett Davis in 2010, during the hours she was supposed to be working for the county.

Walker was subpoenaed to testify, but media reports said his lawyer was going to try to get the subpoena quashed.

State Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch was also on the prosecution’s witness list, along with 2010 Walker campaign manager Keith Gilkes.

Rindfleisch will be the second person to be convicted in a more than two-year-old John Doe investigation into Walker’s former Milwaukee County aides.

Darlene Wink pleaded guilty to illegal campaigning, but avoided jail time by helping prosecutors in the ongoing John Doe probe.

Kevin Kavanaugh, who was appointed by Walker to a county panel, is currently on trial for allegedly embezzling $42,000 from a program to help veterans. That trial started Monday, Oct. 8, and is expected to run through the end of the week.

Former employee accused of setting fire to restaurant

A former employee of an historic Jackson County restaurant has been accused of burning the place down to help his boss with financial problems.

Kyle Rott, 19, was charged Tuesday, Oct. 9, with felony arson for a blaze 15 months ago. It destroyed the Rustic Mill Bar and Restaurant in a 146-year-old building near Black River Falls.

Prosecutors said a couple ran the eatery for almost a year before closing it down a few days before the blaze.

The criminal complaint said a man who owned it offered $10,000 to Rott for starting the fire, but Rott said he’d do it for a couple packs of cigarettes, and they laughed and shook hands.

The man’s son reportedly overheard the conversation, and he thought it was a joke until Rott said the day of the blaze he would keep his word.

The male owner told investigators he owed over $60,000 to vendors and a building contractor, and while he said he wished the restaurant would burn down, he hoped Rott wouldn’t take the offer seriously.

The owner has not been charged, but District Attorney Gerald Fox says the investigation is continuing and more arrests are possible.

For now, Rott is free on a signature bond. He’s due back in court Oct. 22.

The Rustic Mill building opened in 1866. It was a grist mill and a night club before it became a restaurant in the mid-1960s.

Tags: crime and courts, news, politics