MONROE - A Belleville woman imprisoned for embezzling more than $300,000 from the New Glarus Home was denied a motion to be given documents that she claimed would reduce her sentence.
Joyce Ziehli, 57, pleaded no contest to five counts of theft of more than $10,000 from a business in 2014 dating from between 2003 and 2013. As a result of her plea deal, Ziehli was sentenced in March 2015 to 2.5 years in prison and ordered to pay more than $295,000 in restitution.
According to a motion filed earlier this year, Ziehli accepted the plea deal because she believed that certain financial records from the New Glarus Home were destroyed. These records reportedly included ledger details and control reports that would clarify how Ziehli had handled the money and possibly reveal that she had stolen less than her prosecutors believed.
After her conviction, Ziehli's lawyer, Cole Ruby, hired a private investigator who discovered that the supposedly destroyed documents had actually been delivered to the prosecutor, Green County District Attorney Gary Luhman. Luhman had told Ruby previously that the documents were unavailable.
When the motion was filed, Luhman said it was unlikely the documentation would have changed the outcome, as he only needed to prove Ziehli stole at least $10,000 per charge.
However, Green County Circuit Judge Thomas Vale denied Ziehli's motion to examine the contested documents, saying that Ziehli's defense had failed to demonstrate that the records would bring a different result. Vale also said that by taking the plea deal, Ziehli waived her right to examine further documentation.
Ziehli had worked for the New Glarus Home for 31 years before she was fired in 2013. After her release in two and a half years, she faces 15 years of extended supervision.
Joyce Ziehli, 57, pleaded no contest to five counts of theft of more than $10,000 from a business in 2014 dating from between 2003 and 2013. As a result of her plea deal, Ziehli was sentenced in March 2015 to 2.5 years in prison and ordered to pay more than $295,000 in restitution.
According to a motion filed earlier this year, Ziehli accepted the plea deal because she believed that certain financial records from the New Glarus Home were destroyed. These records reportedly included ledger details and control reports that would clarify how Ziehli had handled the money and possibly reveal that she had stolen less than her prosecutors believed.
After her conviction, Ziehli's lawyer, Cole Ruby, hired a private investigator who discovered that the supposedly destroyed documents had actually been delivered to the prosecutor, Green County District Attorney Gary Luhman. Luhman had told Ruby previously that the documents were unavailable.
When the motion was filed, Luhman said it was unlikely the documentation would have changed the outcome, as he only needed to prove Ziehli stole at least $10,000 per charge.
However, Green County Circuit Judge Thomas Vale denied Ziehli's motion to examine the contested documents, saying that Ziehli's defense had failed to demonstrate that the records would bring a different result. Vale also said that by taking the plea deal, Ziehli waived her right to examine further documentation.
Ziehli had worked for the New Glarus Home for 31 years before she was fired in 2013. After her release in two and a half years, she faces 15 years of extended supervision.