Rep. Bill Kramer faces jail time after pleading to sexual assault
Waukesha -- Just days ahead of a scheduled jury trial, prosecutors and state Rep. Bill Kramer (R-Town of Waukesha) announced Thursday they had reached a plea deal regarding sexual assault charges filed against Kramer in March.
At a hearing scheduled as a status conference, Kramer pleaded no contest to reduced charges of two misdemeanor counts of fourth-degree sexual assault. Assistant District Attorney Debra Blasius said her office will recommend three years of probation, with a variety of conditions, including nine months in jail, with work release privileges.
Kramer, 49, will not have to register as a sex offender, but must undergo a sex offender assessment and any recommended treatment. Sentencing is set for Nov. 25 before Reserve Judge Neal Nettesheim.
By avoiding a felony conviction, Kramer will be able to serve the remainder of his term in the Assembly, which ends in January. He is not seeking re-election.
Kramer, the former No. 2 lawmaker in the Assembly, was charged March 8 with two felony counts of second-degree sexual assault. According to the complaint, he shoved a woman into a car, tried to kiss her, touched her indecently and made inappropriate comments to her outside a Republican Party event at a Muskego tavern in 2011.
The charges followed criticism of Kramer for allegedly harassing two other women, one a legislative aide and the other a lobbyist while at a fundraiser in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 26.
The legislative aide has filed a personnel complaint against Kramer.
Assembly Republicans stripped Kramer of his title as majority leader in March.
After the incident in Washington, Kramer entered treatment for unspecified reasons.
Kramer entered his pleas before Nettesheim, filling in at the vacant Branch 9 in Waukesha Circuit Court. (Gov. Scott Walker last week appointed Michael Aprahamian to that judicial position).
Kramer agreed to have Nettesheim handling the sentencing in the case, set for Nov. 25, after the judge reminded Kramer he is not bound by the prosecution's sentencing recommendation.
"To put it bluntly, you take your chances with me," Nettesheim said. Kramer said he understood. Each count carries a maximum possible penalty of nine months in jail and $10,000 fine.
Kramer declined to speak to a reporter after the hearing. His attorney, Eduardo Borda, said his client wanted to resolve the case, and "make certain the community and (the victim) knows he's sincerely apologetic."
"His life's in tatters as a result" of the charges, Borda said. "The whole thing was fueled by his abuse of alcohol, and he's come to grips with that."
Borda said Kramer has been sober more than 230 days and has gotten help from both professionals and support groups. Maintaining sobriety and undergoing an alcohol abuse assessment is one of the conditions of probation proposed by prosecutors.
Borda said at sentencing he will argue against any jail time, which he characterized as "purely punitive," and unnecessary given the professional consequences Kramer has already suffered.
Kramer never felt he was unfairly prosecuted, or overcharged, because of his status as a state representative, Borda said. "He never felt it was political. He was just a person with a drinking problem."
Waukesha District Attorney Brad Schimel, the Republican candidate for Attorney General, has said he has not involved himself in the Kramer case because he had supported him in the past and received a $500 donation from Kramer. Schimel later gave the donation to charity.
Assistant DA Blasius has handled Kramer's case.
Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/rep-bill-kramer-takes-plea-deal-with-jail-time-for-sexual-assault-b99376701z1-280177902.html
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